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Happy anniversary, happy six years of blessed at Baptist Church. My phone's telling me that Canada and Chile are about to play Cop America. But I'm saying no, I'm going to be the house of the Lord. I'm going to be worshipping and serving Jesus Christ instead of watching the soccer. I know you're all doing the same thing, praise God. So grab your hymnals, let's begin by praising our Lord Jesus Christ. We have 143. In your hymnals, 143. We've got to start with this one. Blessed assurance, just because we're called blessed at Baptist Church. 143, can you please stand when you have found it? Blessed assurance, 143. Blessed assurance. Alright, let's sing out to the Lord. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh what a foretaste of glory divine. Heir of salvation, purchase of God. Born of his Spirit, washed in his blood. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. Perfect submission, perfect delight. Visions of rapture now burst on my sight. Angels descending, ring from above. Echoes of mercy, whispers of love. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. Perfect submission, all is at rest. I in my Savior am happy and blessed. And waiting, looking above. Filled with his goodness, washed in his love. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. Alright, beautiful singing guys. Let's go to a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we want to thank you for six years of blessing up Baptist Church, Lord, that we've been able to come together as a church united under our Lord Jesus Christ to serve, to worship, to learn from you. And Lord, I pray that your Holy Spirit will do a great work in us this morning. Please revive us, Lord. Please light a fire, Lord, within us, and if that fire's been burnt out a little bit, Lord, over the recent months, then maybe trials and tribulations, Lord, have caused us to lose our sight upon you. So Lord, please just uplift us, encourage us this morning. Lord, we want to ask for another six years of blessing up Baptist Church, another 10 years, 11 years, 100 years, whatever you have for us, Lord, to serve you faithfully. Thank you for the love that we have, one toward another, for your help, Lord. And Lord, I pray that as we sing our praises to you this morning, Lord, that you'd receive it with gladness. Lord, we want to honour you. We want to bless you, Lord. You're a great God. Thank you so much for your salvation. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. All right. 200, please. 247. 247 we'll sing. Saved, saved. Again, happy birthday. Blessed up, Baptist Church. You guys are a real encouragement to me. Thank you for your love and friendship over these last six years. And, you know, we would not be together if not for Jesus Christ, you know. He's the one that brings us together. He is what we share in unity. Our common interest is Jesus Christ, of course, and our salvation through Him. So we'll sing 247. Saved, saved. 247. I found a friend who is all to me. His love is ever true. I love to tell how He lifted me. And what His grace can do for you. Saved by His power divine. Saved to new life someone. Life thou is sweet and my joy is complete. For I'm saved, saved, saved. He saves me from every sin and harm. Secures my soul each day. I'm leaning strong on His mighty arm. I know He'll guide me all the way. Saved by His power divine. Saved to new life someone. Life thou is sweet and my joy is complete. For I'm saved, saved, saved. When poor and needy and all alone. His love He said to me. Come on to me and I'll lead you home. To live with me eternally. Saved by His power divine. Saved to new life someone. Life thou is sweet and my joy is complete. For I'm saved, saved, saved. Amen. Excellent singing. Let's go to 448, please. 448. 448. Thank you so much for the soul winning yesterday. Brother Anthony, you counted nine, I counted ten. I don't know how many were there. Does anyone know? What's the final number? I think Tony put down like we had a salvation at the door. Tony put it down and I put it down so maybe he counted the same one. Ah, Brother Tony. Nine salvations yesterday. Praise God for that. Excellent work guys. Thank you for going out door to door. Soul winning, that's the main reason. We exist as a church to preach the wonderful good news of Jesus Christ. So 448, we're gathered here today. Brethren, we have meant to worship. We've come together for fellowship. We've come to know more of Jesus Christ. So 448, brethren, we have meant to worship. Brethren, we have meant to worship. And adore the Lord our God. Till you pray with all your power. While we try to preach the word. Holy is the unlester spirit. Of the holy one comes down. Brethren, pray in holy manner. We'll be showered all around. Brethren, save for sinners. Round you slumbering on the brink of woe. Death is coming. Hell is moving. Can you bear to let them go? Sing our fathers and our mothers. And our children singing down. Brethren, pray in holy manner. We'll be showered all around. Sisters, will you join and help us? Moses, sister, aid at him. Will you help the trembling mourners who are struggling hard with sin? Tell them all about the Savior. Tell them that he will be found. Sisters, pray in holy manner. We'll be showered all around. Let us love our God supremely. Let us love each other too. Let us love and pray for sinners. Till our God makes all things good. Then he'll pull us home to heaven. At his table we'll sit down. Christ will gird himself and serve us. We'll spin man out all around. Alright, excellent singing. Sounding beautiful this morning. Brother Tony, what time are we meeting for lunch today? What's the goal? It's around 12, 12. 12, 12. 15. Brother Tim, you've got some trivia questions. We can do it at the restaurant. We can do it at the restaurant. I was just thinking about breaking up the singing a little bit. We'll do it at the restaurant. So bring on your trivia caps for the restaurant. Half the church is not going to turn up for lunch. Because they're like, I don't want to play trivia. Turn up for lunch. And if you get the right answers, your meal will be covered. It will be painful. Alright, let's turn to hymn number 332. 332 before the Bible reading. 332 will sing channels only. 300. 332 channels only. 332. How I praise thee, precious Saviour, That thy love laid hold on me, Thou hast saved and cleansed and filled me, That I my guide channeled me, Channels only, blessed Master, But with all thy wondrous power Flowing through us, thou canst use us, Every day and every hour, And did that thou shouldst fill me, A clean vessel in thy hand, With no power but as thou givest, Graciously with each command, Channels only, blessed Master, But with all thy wondrous power Flowing through us, thou canst use us, Every day and every hour. On the third? Witnessing thy power to save me, Set him free from self and sin, Thou who bought us to possess me, In thy fullness would come in, Channels only, blessed Master, But with all thy wondrous power Flowing through us, thou canst use us, Every day and every hour. Jesus filled now with thy spirit, Hards that full surrender know, That the strings of living water, From our inner man may flow, Channels only, blessed Master, But with all thy wondrous power Flowing through us, thou canst use us, Every day and every hour. All right, we need to make some space. If we are able to move to the walls, and don't leave a seat in between, we can make some room before we get into the Bible reading. The Bible reading's going to be from the book of Acts. Acts chapter 2, please, Acts chapter 2. And before we get into the reading, our reader's going to be Brother Emilio. He's come all the way from Melbourne just to read the Bible for us. I do want to acknowledge, of course, Brother Emilio, to come from Melbourne, to come across state borders. All right, Sister Clarissa as well from Melbourne. Okay, Brother Martin from Victoria. Man, we thought nothing good comes out of Victoria. But there's at least three great things coming out of Victoria. Praise God for that. Okay, so Brother Emilio, if we can get you to come up here for the reading. Acts chapter 2, Acts chapter 2. Thank you, Brother. All right, Acts chapter 2. When you found it, please stand up for the Word of God. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And they appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And they were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue when we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea and Cappadocia in Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya around Cyrene, and strangest Rome, Jews and proselytes, Crete and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lift up his voice and said unto them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words, for these are not drunken you suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day, but this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel, and it shall come to pass in the last day, saith God, I will pour out of my spirit upon the old flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams, and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my spirit, and they shall prophesy, and I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath, blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke, the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into dark, before that great and notable day of the Lord come, and it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Ye men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know, him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain, whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad. Moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope, because thou will not leave my soul in hell, neither will thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. Thou has made known to me the ways of life, thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on this throne. He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh deeds in corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which he now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens, but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit down on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know shortly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and extort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received this word were baptized, and the same day they were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that belief were together, and had all things common, and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having faith with all the people. And the Lord added the church daily such as should be saved. May the Lord bless this reading. Heavenly Father, Lord God, just thank you for everything that you've done for us. You've been so faithful, Lord, whether it's just in regards to our salvation, that you saved us from sin and death, coming victorious over the grave, giving us salvation. And not only salvation, but we can also join Jesus Christ, that we can know the Father, and know you personally on a personal level, and that you hear our prayers, that you've answered them, that you've brought us to church, you know, whether it's been, you know, whether it's helping us to have the health to come to church, or making all the travel, and giving us smooth travels. And Lord, we also pray that you bless this service, Lord, just fill the parts with your Holy Ghost, just give him utterance and clarity of speech, and also be with us as well, that you'll be softening our hearts, ready to receive the word with all, all meekness, and to just receive it in our hearts, that we've applied to our lives, and that we may learn more about you, God, to just glorify, to lift up your name, and to be a witness to those around the world. We pray also you bless our lunch, bless our fellowship as well. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Amen. Amen. All right, I had a suggestion, if we could take a church photo. We've not had a church photo for years, actually. Blessed up at this church. So if you guys are happy after the service, before we go out for lunch, if we can, we'll move this pulpit, maybe to the side, maybe to that side, and we'll try to take a church photo here with everybody. So we'll aim to do that after the preaching this morning. All right, so we had the reading there from Acts chapter 2, Acts chapter 2. And of course this is when we have the amazing story of Pentecost, where the disciples were gathered together, and the Holy Ghost came upon them. They started to speak with other languages, with other tongues, they were preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I want to pick it up there from verse number 37, Acts chapter 2, verse number 37. It says, And with many other words he did testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Now, I want you to notice how they responded there in verse number 41. We've got Peter preaching to them, right? It says, Then they gladly received the word. Sorry. Then they that gladly received the word were baptized. And the same day they were added unto them about 3,000 souls. So the church in Jerusalem suddenly grew from about 120 people to about 3,000 added. So 3,120 people added to the church there in Jerusalem. Now, I don't know, because if you keep reading through this chapter, they're meeting in houses. I don't know if someone had a house big enough for 3,000 church members. I don't know. Maybe someone had a massive house or whatever it is, right? But they also, the Bible tells us they went house to house, breaking bread and things like that. And so it might be possible that within Jerusalem there were, maybe there were smaller churches just in the city itself. And the 12 disciples or the 11 apostles at that time were going around and just teaching those people. That could be another way of viewing it, okay? But what I love about verse number 42, it says, And they continued steadfastly. Brethren, the title for the sermon this morning is Continue Steadfastly. Continue Steadfastly. You've done it for six years. And I don't know how you're feeling right now, spiritually speaking. You know, I see your happy faces. I enjoy your fellowship. I enjoy your friendship. I enjoy the conversations we may have via phone call or via text or via email, whatever it is that we, however we communicate. But I really can't see your spiritual walk with the Lord. I don't know how you're doing so much in the faith, you know? And if you're anything like me, if I can be a judge of my own spiritual life as I, you know, go and get it saved from a young boy and teenage years and the adult years and all that, it's not always on the up and up, the spiritual life. Sometimes you're having the little moments of the depression being cast down, you know, feeling judged or, you know, you just fall into sin and you feel like a hopeless wreck. You feel like you're, you know, you feel insecure. You might feel, you know, that's what I'm looking for, that you're not up to the level of other people in the church. You might say, well, I go to church and Brother so-and-so looks like they're doing really well. Sister so-and-so seems to be doing really well. Yeah, it always seems to be, but you know what? One thing that I've learnt in the past is that we all have problems. Every single one of us have problems. Every single of us has insecurities and problems in our lives. And we know about our own insecurities. We know about our own problems, but we often don't, we don't recognise it in others. And I just promise you, I tell you the truth, everyone's got problems, everyone's got issues. Everyone's got hurts and everyone's got things that they're trying to overcome in their life and people have relationship issues and people have financial difficulties and people have whatever it is, right? Just every issue under the sun. And so when we go through life, I've never promised anyone that your Christian life's going to be rosy and it's going to be just always wonderful and always on the up and up. No, no, no, because we have so many enemies that are against us. We have so many adversaries. We have the devil, we have the world, we have our own flesh that is working against us. And sometimes God will use Christians, sometimes God will use even our own church members, our own brothers and sisters in the Lord to be a discouragement to us. And so I don't know how your spiritual walk is going, but I want to exhort you this morning to continue steadfastly, continue steadfastly serving the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, thank God for blessing up at this church. Thank God for you. You know, you are an encouragement to me. Like, honestly, you're not this burden. It's not like our pastor's got to travel every week. Yeah, the travel's a burden, but you're not a burden. Like, coming to church is not a burden. Coming to church is wonderful. You know, being in fellowship, seeing your faces, you know, following friendships, all these things for me is just great. It's just great to have each one of you part of my life. And with you there supporting me, giving me words of encouragement, it encouraged me to continue steadfastly serving the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse number 42 again. How did they continue steadfastly? And this is where I'm going to build a sermon from this morning. It says in verse number 42, And they continued steadfastly in the apostles what? Doctrine, number one, and? Fellowship, number two. And in number three, the breaking of bread. And number four, and in prayers. Okay? So these are the four points that I have for you this morning. Doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread, and in prayers. If we want to continue steadfastly, we want to continue seeing this church for our 10-year anniversary, another six years, another 20 years, whatever God wills, then we need to continue steadfastly. If we fall off the wagon bread front, it doesn't take long. It doesn't take long for one to be discouraged, then to pass on the discouragement to another brother. It doesn't take long for one to get angry at the pastor and then to tell everyone else to get angry at the pastor. It doesn't take long for discouragement to come. And I want to tell you that you are going to get mad at the pastor sometimes. I'll just be honest with you. And I'll be honest with you, sometimes you're going to get upset with one another. Brother so-and-so did not say hi to me this morning. Brother so-and-so forgot to call me. He said he's going to call me tomorrow. He didn't call me. Whatever it is, right? There's going to be something. Brother so-and-so, I don't know if he was joking, but I don't think it was. Was he being sarcastic or was he trying to attack me? Was he trying to tear me down? And you know, those things happen and before you know it, you're not going to continue steadfastly. Before you know it, you're going to think of brothers and sisters in the Lord as the most horrible people in the world. And yet, anywhere you form friendships, anywhere you have people around each other, there's always going to be people issues. And so you know what? Even in church, there's going to be people issues. And I just want you to continue steadfastly. Because I don't know about you, but first and foremost, I come for Jesus Christ. I come to serve my Lord God Almighty. And I'm not perfect. I'm not perfect. If I know I'm not perfect, to the point that without Jesus, I'm going to hell. That's how bad I am. Then how do I expect my brothers and sisters to be better than me? I don't have that expectation. I expect people to have problems and failings and sometimes you're going to rub me the wrong way, I'm going to rub you the wrong way, but I just want to make sure that we continue steadfastly. And the first thing that we saw there was doctrine. Doctrine is what's going to help us to continue steadfastly. Now, we're not going to come to Acts chapter 2 anymore. Come with me to Deuteronomy 32, please. Come with me to Deuteronomy chapter 32. Deuteronomy chapter 32. We're going to look at the first mention of the word doctrine in the Bible. And it comes from Pastor Moses. Remember, Moses was the pastor, as it were, of the church in the wilderness. And he brings up this word doctrine. What does doctrine mean? It's not that complicated. It just means teaching, or teachings. That's what doctrine really, when you boil it down, it's the teaching. And in Deuteronomy chapter 32, this is known as the Song of Moses. This is shortly before he passes away. And he sings this song in Deuteronomy chapter 32, verse number 1. He says, Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak, and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. And so you can see he passed to Moses. As he begins to speak, he's saying, to the heavens, give ear. And by the way, that's what gives me the greatest fear when I get up to preach, because I know God is listening. I know the heavens are listening. I'm not just preaching to man. God is hearing what I have to say. Jesus Christ says, when two or three are gathered in his name, he is there in the midst of us. So guess what? This morning, Jesus Christ is in one of these chairs, listening to what I have to preach. And he's going to be the biggest critic, because I'm using his words. I'm trying to do my best to speak his words. Obviously, that gives us a lot of fear. He continues and says, O hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. So he's speaking to the common man there, the human beings. Hear the words of my mouth. And so Moses was a preacher. He was a teacher of the words of God. Then he says this in verse number two, and for the preachers, this is important for you to remember. This is why you get up here to preach. It says in verse number two, My doctrine shall drop as the rain. My speech shall distill as the dew. As the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass. Think about those words. When you get up to teach doctrine, what is the purpose of teaching doctrine? Well, he compares teaching doctrine as the rain, or as the dew, okay? And we need the dew and the rain for what purpose? For the grass to grow, for the trees to grow, for our crops to grow? You know, the purpose of teaching doctrine is not to destroy, is what I'm trying to say. The purpose of teaching doctrine is to build up, is to encourage, to give, you know, the rain to the, it says there, the tender herb. You know, doctrine ought to be considering that there are people that are tender right now. You know, maybe there are babes in Christ that do not know much. Maybe there are people that feel easily offended. And, you know, if you just preach at people rather than to people, you can cause great offense. And, you know, there are preachers like that. There are people like, I've come across them. They almost just want to just, you know, tell you all about your sin and like, and just destroy, like, I'm going to preach against sin. But I'm not here preaching against your specific life. Like, I'm here to preach God's word, and if God's word touches your heart, then that's the Holy Spirit doing a work in your life. You know, I want to see you build up. I want to see you, as a tender herb, grow up and be, you know, fruitful and become a forest and become something great and mature. That is the purpose of doctrine, for growth, not to destroy, you know, our brothers and sisters in the Lord. Not only that, what else does Moses say in verse number three? He says, Because I will publish the name of the Lord, ascribe ye greatness unto our God. What else is there? What's the other reason for doctrine? To ascribe greatness unto our God. To publish the name of the Lord. We don't come to publish the name of the pastor. To publish the name of the pastor, Kevin Sepulveda. Or to uphold, you know, a great preacher, or lift up man, you know, on a pedestal. No, the reason we come to church and hear doctrine is that we can uphold and lift up and put our focus on the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord God Almighty, our creator, our savior, the foundation of this church, the head of this church is our Lord God. And so we ought not to be in a church that is uplifting men. Why? Because men fail. And if men fail and we uplift men and our eyes are upon men, guess what? You're going to fail. Because your eyes are in the wrong place. Now the purpose of preaching doctrine is for growth and to, of course, put our focus and attention on our Lord God and our savior, Jesus Christ. Can you come with me to another passage? Come with me to Isaiah 28. Isaiah 28, I did not preach on this very long ago because we're going through the book of Isaiah, chapter by chapter, on Thursdays, but Isaiah 28, Isaiah 28, verse number 9. Brethren, the Bible is, it's a big book, but it's not really. I mean, I've seen books bigger than this. And, you know, I think the number one book that people read, like fictional book, is the Harry Potter series. And I don't know how many books there are, there are nine books, I have no idea. Okay, but you put all those books together, there's more than this one book. And this is not the biggest book in the world, but it's got 66 books, you know. We've got 40 different authors here in this book, and this book is all sufficient for our whole lives. Like from the time that you get saved to the time that you go down to the grave, this is a book that you need to be reading, okay. Now let me tell you, you are never, you will read the book cover to cover, okay. If you spend 15 minutes a day, you'll read the Bible cover to cover within one year, okay. So it's not difficult to read the Bible cover to cover, but you'll never fully experience the full depth and richness of this Bible for your entire life. You will continue to, I continue to learn from God's word every single moment that I pick up his word. There are great riches, okay. There are great riches. And my point is this. This book is supposed to last your entire life and the next generation and the generation after that and generation after that and generation after that until we go to be with the Lord forever in the eternal state, okay. And the reason I say that is that there is no rush to be this all-knowing, I've got all the books of the Bible, I know all the doctrines, I know all of it. Brethren, there's no rush, and it's so important that you remember this because if you rush to know everything, you will burn out. You need a life, it's a lifelong journey learning God's word. And I promise if you read the Bible every single day for 15 minutes, even on the day of your death, there's going to be something that you learn, something that you did not pick up because that's how deep and rich God's word is. And I say that because in Isaiah 28, look at Isaiah 28, verse number 9. Isaiah 28, verse number 9. It says, If we're going to continue steadfastly, we need to understand doctrine. Who gives us that knowledge? God, okay. And I really want you to, like, consider these words. Think about it, okay. Look, I'm not against you listening to sermons every day, but look, if you're listening to, like, 10 sermons a day, if that's your life, like, Monday, 10 sermons, Tuesday, 10 sermons, Wednesday, 10 sermons, dude, slow down, slow down. Who can God teach knowledge? Who can God teach or help understand doctrine? This person, okay, in verse number 9 continues, them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts. The ones that are ready to learn are those that are, as it were, babes and even willing so much to learn some of the most basic principles of the Bible, the milk of God's word. Now, look, God's word, when you are saved, you're not going to know much. Just enjoy the milk, okay. My baby, our newest baby, she's, I think, eight months. My wife's going to kill me if I get that wrong. I think she's eight months. She's still drinking milk, believe it or not. She still wants to be on mom's breasts, all right. And now slowly we're introducing the solids, all right. Slowly introducing some of that rice cereal, whatever it is, that early stage stuff, and then slowly you progress maybe to a bit of yogurt, something nicer. You know, but it all takes time. It's patience, right. When baby is born, you're not feeding that baby a steak. We're not taking baby to the Macedonian Thai restaurant, right. We're not doing that. We're just, baby, just enjoy the milk. Because if you don't take it slow, you know, you're not going to be the person that can get the knowledge and the doctrine. You know what happens, and I've seen this, and no offense, because I want doctrine to be like dew and rain, but I know people that have a lot of knowledge because they've listened to so many sermons online, but then when you ask them, show me that in the Bible, some in the Bible, why do you believe what you believe? Because of a man? Now that man ought to help you, show you where the Bible contains that information, but if you've just believed something because of a man and you've never gone to God's word, there's something wrong. I'm just telling you. I'm just telling you, okay, and you're going to stunt your growth because you're going to think you know all things. Look how much I've learnt. But when you're ready to show some of the scriptures, you can't. People, you know, I get corrected all the time. Pastor, it's this, it's this. Can you show me the Bible? Oh, it's somewhere there. Oh, let me send you this sermon. Just show me the Bible. Can you show me the Bible? Isn't that God's word? Isn't that what we base? Isn't that what we say? We say that all the time, that we build our doctrines from his word. But then when you want to show me something, you can't show me the Bible. It's like, what's going on? I tell you what's going on. People are rushing to grow. And look, when you start young, and look, and you realise, man, there is so much that I need to, I still need to absorb. Then you understand this principle, verse number 10 there in Isaiah 28, verse number 10. For precepts must be upon precepts. The word precept is kind of like that word, kind of like the word principle, the most, the most basic things. You know, for you to understand some deep doctrine, you must first lay the foundation. And then you build on that precept another precept, another precept upon that precept. You see, the Bible is something that you slowly grow and add to, bit by bit. This is how God teaches you. Precept upon precept. It says, line upon line, line upon line. And this is so important. Here are little, and there are little. Here are little, and there are little. Now, the average man, they get to their height. How old do you get to? I hear that men don't stop growing until they're about 21. But usually, by the time they're 16 and 17, they've reached pretty much their max height. But then there might be a little bit further growth afterwards, generally speaking. Okay? 16 years. And we know what it's like. You know, as parents, we don't see it so much because we see our kids every single day, all right? But then if a family or friend don't see our kids for a few years or a few months even, they'll be like, boy, you know, your son's grown or your daughter's grown. I'm sure we've all kind of said those words. You know, because we've not seen them for a while. But as parents, we see them every day because it's here a little. It's there a little, right? It's here a little. It's there a little. And brethren, that's the same with your Christian understanding. If God's going to teach you things, give you knowledge, teach you doctrine, it's just a little by little. Okay? Please don't be the 10 sermons a day believer. A lot! And then a lot! And a lot! And a lot! But you're not actually growing. You think. You have the perception that you're growing. You have the perception of great knowledge. But all you know is what someone said. You don't know what God's word contains. Brethren, if we're going to continue steadfastly, doctrine needs to be a little by little. Little by little. And look, I've got four points for you today, right? We said doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread, prayer. If that's too much, just take one of those things. Take doctrine. Make that your, okay, what's the one thing that I'm learning from the sermon this morning? Maybe I should slow down. Take it easy. Get the knowledge. Absorb things. Precept upon precept. Line upon line. Little here, little there. Okay? Maybe take that as your principal teaching this morning. And that's sufficient. If that's all you take away from the sermon this morning, that's enough for you to grow thereby. But doctrine is so important for us to continue steadfastly. Can you come with me to Romans chapter 6, please? Come with me to Romans chapter 6. Romans chapter 6. While you're turning to Romans chapter 6. While you're turning to Romans 6, I wanted to read from you from Matthew chapter 7. Because Christ, of course, taught doctrine. And when Christ came to this earth, it says in Matthew 7, 28, you go to Romans 6. Matthew 7, 28, it says, And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine. When Jesus was out preaching, I was like, whoa, this is amazing teaching. They're astonished, brother. They've never heard any teaching like this before. Because this is why. Verse number 29. For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. So the scribes taught, but not with authority. Jesus Christ taught, now, of course, he's God Almighty. Of course, he's got authority. But what does it mean to teach with authority? Because there's a lot of first preachers right this morning teaching with authority. And full in the masses. Well, what authority are we talking about? If we're talking about authority, we're talking about preaching the authority of God's word. Right? Not the authority of the pastor's authority or a man's authority, the preacher's authority. No, no, if we're going to teach with authority, it doesn't mean that you're teaching with a big voice or a big volume. I mean, there's nothing wrong with that. I try to apply that when I can. But authority comes down to who is the one in charge? Is Pastor Kevin in charge or Blessed at Baptist Church? Not even close. It's Jesus Christ, his word. If we're going to teach with authority, we must teach God's word. We must expound God's word. We must read God's word. We must honor God's word. That is above the opinions and suggestions of man. If we're going to continue steadfastly, we must continue the authority of God's word. You're there in Romans 6, verse 17. Romans 6, 17. Romans 6, 17. But God be thanked that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed Look at this, but ye have obeyed So look, we were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed what? From the heart That form of doctrine which was delivered you. Another reason doctrine is important is that we no longer serve sin. We need to be obedient to the doctrines. Be obedient to God's word. And look, do we still struggle with sin today? I'll be the first to say so. Put your hand up if you don't struggle with sin. Okay, there you go. So what's the answer? What's the solution? What's going to help us in life? To obey doctrine. It continues there, verse number 18. Being then made free from sin, ye become the servants of righteousness. So how are we going to continue steadfastly with doctrine? We want to make sure when we teach, yes, we highlight sin, the danger of sin, the damage that sin can cause in our lives, but we also need to give the solution. We need to give a way that we can, or an application, a way that we can walk in the paths of righteousness. That we can be servants of righteousness. I hope that's what Blessed Baptist Church has helped you with over the years. I hope so. I hope you can walk away from church and go, boy, I'm serving righteousness more than I did before. I'd be a little bit upset as a pastor if you're like pastor for six years, I'm even more in sin. I'm doing even less righteous and something like, oh, man. But all we can do, of course, is teach doctrine and then it's your own personal responsibility to decide whether I'm going to obey those words or not. You're in Romans. Come with me to another passage. Romans 16, Romans 16. Romans 16, verse number 17. Romans 16, verse number 17. Did you know there's not a single human being in this church that will agree 100% with me on everything? I guarantee you, there's not a single person, maybe even right now, this morning, I've said something that you don't even agree with. Now, look, there are going to be differences of opinions and even differences of understanding certain scriptures. And that's just part of being a human being because we don't have absolute knowledge, we're not infallible with our teaching and our wisdom and our different experiences and backgrounds and maybe even our grammatical understanding of English sometimes may affect the way we understand certain passages. But in Romans 16, verse number 17, I want you to be also careful about this, brethren. It says in verse number 17, Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and avoid them. There are people that we are to avoid. You say, who is it, pastor? You know, brother, I'll say brother Tim because he said, yeah, brother Tim on Sunday said, I disagree with pastor's teaching on Thursday, you know, I wait to mark him and avoid him. Look, that person that is teaching a contrary doctrine, if their teaching is causing this, look at verse number 17 again, Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause what? Divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you have delivered you. It's not that we may have a contrary view or understanding. Look, the fact that you hear this more, like again, I know, you're not all going to agree with me about something and I know you're not all going to agree with one another. Whoever you think is the closest to you in understanding certain things, you're going to find a disagreement in some area of the Bible. But are we causing offenses? Are we causing divisions? No. And this is what you need to be aware of, okay? Just because, you know, brother Anthony believes Adam had a belly button and I don't, and I don't, that's not even true, anyway, whatever it is, right? Like, oh, pastor, did you know brother Anthony believes Adam had a belly button, you say he didn't, oh man, we need to get him out of the church or something. I was like, that's dude, you're an idiot. You're the one causing divisions. You're the one causing controversy here. It's not a big deal, it's nothing. So what? So I want you to understand how we apply this, okay? Just call, well pastor down the road said this is different to you, pastor Kevin, let's get rid of, let's mark him, avoid him. You seem like the one causing divisions if we have that kind of attitude. If pastor down the road is saved, okay, he's got the right gospel, teaching him the King James Bible, right? Doing the best he can, even if you don't think he's up to the standard you think he ought to be. I'm not going to just mark him and avoid him and call him a devil or something like this. Sometimes we have that attitude because I know doctrine and that pastor doesn't know the doctrine that I know. Man, who's causing divisions? You know, so all I'm saying, brethren, is be careful of doctrines that cause divisions and offences. Remember what I said, when I'm teaching doctrine, I'm not here to offend you. I'm not here to just tear you down. I'm here to preach you God's word I want to think of you guys as tender herbs, I want to encourage you and sometimes God's word will offend you but I tell you it's not offending the new man. It's not offending the spirit that's been revived within you that was born again. Sometimes God's word many times it'll just offend your flesh. Okay, it'll offend your sinful nature. So be it, because we want to learn about these sins and walk in the paths of righteousness. But the reason I wanted to read this verse to you is because be careful about who you listen to online. Just because they say Jesus or just because they read from the King James Bible or just because they have the word Baptist in their name doesn't mean that's someone you need to listen to because they might be a very divisive, offensive person causing destruction. Those kinds of people are to be avoided. Look at verse number 18, it says For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. You say, pastor, what's going to help me not to be deceived by false doctrine? Don't be simple. It's the simple that are easily deceived. You know, if you grow little by little line upon line, precept of one precept you will be grounded on the foundations of the Bible. You'll be able to go to God's word and when someone says this is a contradiction you'll be like, no it's not because you've built your foundations you know exactly how to understand that passage and you go from there and you won't be led away by the false doctrines of false prophets. So brethren, for us to continue steadfastly number one, we need doctrine being taught we need to give focus and attention on doctrine otherwise you're going to be tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine. Now the next thing that we spoke about was fellowship the importance of fellowship. Can you come with me to 1 John please 1 John chapter 1 1 John, I better hurry up I've spent too much time on doctrine 1 John chapter 1 please 1 John chapter 1 What is fellowship? The word ship, like in relationship, fellowship has to do with a state of being and so a relationship, the state of being is that you're related one to another. A fellow, a fellow is a man a person, a human being a state of being is that we have a common a commonality between our fellow man, fellowship talk about church and we're coming together for fellowship that's important, that's an important part of continuing steadfastly you know sometimes I hear people say well I don't go to church for fellowship I just go for Jesus I mean Jesus is number one but if you avoid fellowship altogether you will not continue steadfastly that's important, that's an important part and I often say this look this is just a reality of church whether you like this statement or not people like Blessed Our Baptist Church and people like New Life Baptist Church for the doctrine and people often move to our churches for our doctrine but you know what's going to keep them in church? Fellowship if they feel like yeah this church is the right doctrine but no one likes me no one talks to me everyone gives me I don't know a side glance rude you know they avoid me you think they're going to want to hang around? Fellowship is key for Blessed Our Baptist Church to continue steadfastly now look at 1 John chapter 1 verse number 3 1 John chapter 1 verse number 3 that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you so John is saying look we're telling you what I've seen what I've heard because John was one of the apostles I was teaching about Jesus this is what I've seen I'm telling you all about Jesus right? this is why that ye also may have fellowship with us so it says the important part of our fellowship is that we have in common Jesus this is why I'm telling you what I've seen what I've heard so we can have fellowship one with another and then it says this and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ you know what's going to fix or improve the fellowship at Blessed Our Baptist Church? if we have fellowship with the Father and his Son on a personal basis you want to get along with each other? then have fellowship with God have fellowship with Jesus spend time in prayer spend time reading your Bible spend time finding a quiet place alone get away from the TV get away from the video games get away from the social media and take your Bible to a quiet place and say God I want some fellowship with you God I've got things to talk to you about and Lord you speak to me in return as I open your word you know what? as you improve your fellowship with God Almighty naturally through his love you're going to improve the fellowship one with another here at this church okay? you know have you ever sort of met a stranger just a complete stranger you've got nothing in common with that stranger I'm sure this has happened if you've lived long enough and then you get talking and you find out that you've got the same mutual friend or you have something in common somebody in common and then all of a sudden you're two strangers and all of a sudden you're like oh wow you know I've known him for this long and what have you all of a sudden you're complete strangers but because you know the same mutual person develops a fellowship of closeness you've got something in common well that which we have in common the same person that we all share is Jesus Christ think about that if not for Jesus you and I would be complete strangers did you know that? I mean I might bump into Les at the gym he would not lend me his car just because he met some stranger at the gym Les goes well you know Jesus I know Jesus and so we're brothers and sisters in the Lord I often think about that we would not know each other we would not be meeting this morning right now I'd be watching Chili vs Canada whatever if we did not know Jesus Jesus is what brings us together like what better friend is there like when you think of that example when people, strangers, know the same person and it builds a connection the best friend we've all had is Jesus he saved us he's like oh you know Jesus too yeah he saved me 10 years ago he saved me 5 years ago man that ought to be like if there's anything that brings us together in fellowship it's our love for Jesus and you know what when a church does not have fellowship when a church does not develop friendships it's because someone's love for Jesus can you imagine like 2 people you know Jesus I mean he saved me praise God but I don't really like walking in his ways I don't really like the people that call themselves Christians because they're all hypocrites like man that's the wrong attitude to have if you love Jesus if you truly love Jesus you will love your brother and sister in the Lord because Jesus loved your brother and sister in the Lord enough to die for them as well to pay for their sins as well you're there in 1 John look at verse number 5 1 John 1 5 this then is the message which we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lie and do not the truth what's going to help your fellowship with your fellow man again our fellowship with God but there is no darkness in God so if you're walking in darkness and we all make mistakes of course but if we walk in darkness and we just live a sinful life we don't pick up our Bibles we don't care about church brethren you're not in fellowship with him you lie you say I'm in fellowship with God but you're lying and in reality you're only really lying to yourself look at verse number 7 it says but if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin so again I don't know your position and your fellowship with God this morning I know if your fellowship with God is right then your fellowship with your brothers and sisters are going to be right I know that and I know that if your fellowship with God is wrong then your fellowship with your brothers and sisters in the church will be wrong as well these things cannot be separated but if your fellowship with God is wrong if you are in darkness if you know you've not been praying toward him you've not been opening his word it says the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all sin you can keep reading for yourself all we need to do is confess our sins before Jesus saying Lord forgive me I've not been walking with you I've not been walking in the light Lord I've been walking in darkness Lord I've not been seeking your fellowship Lord I've not even been seeking fellowship with my brothers and sisters in the Lord at church can you please forgive me and that's it done and dusted alright now you're back in the light singing in praises you know whenever there's a burden in your heart instead of going and telling some other human being go and tell Jesus first go and tell the Lord first build a fellowship build friendship with Jesus Christ can you come with me to 2 Corinthians 2 Corinthians chapter 8 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse number 1 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse number 1 you know what breaks my heart when my brothers and sisters in the Lord don't get along it breaks my heart when there's divisions you know when there are offences it's like let's just get along like let's just put things aside alright if I have a beefy view let's talk about it let's just get over it let's move on let's serve Jesus together it breaks my heart because there's so few of us like really when you think about how many believers there are in the world like truly saved like you say there are a lot of Christians you know there's a I don't know I'm just gonna make this up there's 1.8 billion Christians in the world yeah but they're not saved how many people are truly saved think about that how many of the saved actually are King James only and Baptist and have a heart for winning souls when you start to add all these different layers it becomes less and less and less and less and I want to have fellowship and then we're arguing and this issue and that issue and this is raw it's raw it's like dude come on you're gonna be alone you're gonna have nobody you know just divide churches and cause issues everywhere you go and it tells me your heart's not right with the Lord like if that's the attitude you've got like to me it's like we've got a full house this morning yeah it takes six years to grow you know and then it's like that's it I don't like this brother I don't like that sister divisions family goes here family goes there it's like man that labor that effort the love for Christ the what we ought to have the walking in the light instead of the darkness it's like man cause we're such selfish creatures sometimes I just want to make peace with you I've got no problem saying sorry even if I think I didn't do anything wrong I don't care if you think I did something wrong I'll say sorry to you honestly like that's how I am because I love you and the reason I love you is because I love Jesus that's it you know and to me that is vastly more superior than the one rude word I said to you or the one rude word you said to me you know ten years ago we're still holding the grudge ten years later or something you know that's crazy to me I was in 2 Corinthians 8 verse number 1 Paul is right into the Corinthian church Corinthian church was really messed up but he says moral brethren we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia so he's talking about the Macedonian churches and then he says how that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality he says the Macedonian churches have great tribulations and yet there's an abundance of joy and look it says they've got deep poverty these churches in Macedonia aren't rich churches they haven't got deep pockets and yet they've abounded unto the riches of their liberality he says these Macedonian churches have dug in deep into their pockets even though they're poor even though they're going through trials and tribulations and they've given of their finances he's kind of saying that if you know the context of all this it's not a poverty it's a rich church and I'll keep going verse number 3 it says for to their power I bear record yea and beyond their power they were willing of themselves beyond their power so again they're poor they're doing more than they really should they're giving more than really what they have is what he's saying they've gone beyond their power and this is why that we should receive the gift Paul's like no no Macedonian churches you're giving too much and they're like no please Paul take it for the purpose of the ministry that we should receive the gift and this is important and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints now I'll give you the context of this the churches in Judea and Jerusalem they went through a massive drought there was a shortage of food and so the Jerusalem church sends representatives to other churches and says guys we're not doing very well in Jerusalem and so the churches come together and they do a special offering for the brethren down in Judea in 1 Corinthians Paul says to the Corinthian church remember you guys promised that you're going to send something to Judea you haven't done it yet guys come on this is kind of embarrassing and then we get to 2 Corinthians they still haven't done it look the Macedonian churches they're so poor and they've gone above their power and they've said look just take it Paul we need to go and help those brothers down in Jerusalem and it's trying to encourage the Corinthian church guys get your things together that's why later on he goes give willingly and not gradually and all these kinds of things that he teaches and what I love about this is that in verse number 4 it says beyond their power they were of themselves willing of themselves praying sorry verse number 4 praying us we're much intrigued at that we should receive the gift look and take upon us the fellowship of the ministry to the saints so you see fellowship is not always just getting together, having coffee going for lunch, going to church it's also looking out for the needs of one another okay this is the Macedonian churches they probably don't even know anyone in Jerusalem but they've heard about their need they've heard about the great drought and they're like you know what let's give our fellowship toward our brothers over there let's give even though we're poor we're going to dig in deep Paul take these resources and go help the church down there in Jerusalem that's one way to show fellowship and that's why I said there's not many of us and guess what we all have issues we all have trials sometimes it happens a brother, a family, the Lord is going to need financial help financial aid okay our fellowship is to say hey let's put together a special offering for this purpose or that purpose let's show our fellowship to our brother who is struggling and Brandon if we're always just fighting I'm not saying we do, I'm just an example right if we're just fighting conflict this problem, this problem, blah blah he doesn't believe like I believe on this doctrine and blah blah we're never going to be able to come together and show fellowship in a time of need like we need each other you know God's put us together to support one another to pray for one another okay and again I told you we all have problems every single one of us you know you might get angry your sister so-and-so ignored me at church today you probably don't realize how much her heart is breaking and her mind's filled with problems and worries and issues and she just doesn't feel like smiling today because she's bearing so much upon her shoulders but you don't see that part but it's quick to, we're quick to criticize but brethren our focus if we want to continue steadfastly ought to be fellowship I've got two more points let's get through them quickly okay the breaking of bread, the breaking of bread come with me to 1 Corinthians 10 1 Corinthians 10, 1 Corinthians 10 now in the Bible the breaking of bread can be two things it can be just general food just getting together for lunch you know, sometimes brother Ash is like hey let's just go to the Assyrian sports club and grab some dinner after on a Thursday yeah that's kind of the idea of breaking bread just sharing one another but I want to show you obviously in the Bible when the Bible speaks of breaking of bread in those kinds of words this is more than that this is actually communion this is when we get together and you know have the grape juice and the bread and remember the body of Jesus Christ look there in 1 Corinthians 10, 16 1 Corinthians 10, 16 it says the cup of blessing which we bless is the communion of the blood of Christ the bread which we break is it not the communion of the body of Christ is it like the bread that we break what is that? that's the communion of the body of Christ for we being many are one bread and one body for we are all partakers of that one bread we've all been saved by the broken body of Christ and is shed blood okay the bread, the grape juice represents the body of Christ being sacrificed for us and that's what communion is com, with, union, united, union bringing us together what brings us together is the broken body of Jesus Christ his sacrifice and brethren if we're going to continue steadfastly we need to break bread together and look it's our church anniversary just letting you guys know this coming Thursday if you can make it to church we'll break bread okay brother Rams if you can organize some pizzas for us pizzas on the Horsley it'll be free it'll be free for you guys pizza on the Horsley Thursday we'll have a meal together won't preach for too long and then we'll break bread because I want to continue steadfastly I want to see another six years so let's spend time to break bread and remember the body and the blood of Jesus Christ okay now let's talk about prayers we talk about breaking of bread let's go to prayers come with me to Matthew 21 in hindsight I should have made each of these points a sermon Matthew 21 verse number 12 of course this is when Christ is walking the earth ministry just very quickly blessed up by this church is the house of the Lord the house of God in the New Testament days the house of the Lord is your local church okay but when Christ walked the earth okay the second temple that was reconstructed after the Jews returned from Babylon anyway Matthew 21 verse number 12 it says and Jesus went into the temple of God and cast out all them that sowed and bought in the temple and overthrew the tables of the money changers and the seats of them that sowed doves and said unto them it is written my house shall be called the house of prayer but ye have made it a den of thieves now one thing I know for certain the house of God here at blessed up by this church is not a den of thieves I know that for certain but I want it to be a house of prayer and at New Life Baptist Church on Wednesday nights after the service we stop and have a time of prayer the reason I don't do it on Thursday is because we generally start later here at 7 o'clock and so it just takes up an extra time to have a time of prayer but we saw if we want to continue steadfastly the fourth point was prayers we need to pray together and number one we ought to be praying on our own with our own fellowship with God of course but we ought to be praying one for another and if you can come with me to another passage during Matthew so come with me to Matthew 17 come with me to Matthew 17 please and while you're turning to Matthew 17 I'll just read to you from Ephesians 6 verse 18 you go to Matthew 17 Ephesians 6 18 says Ephesians 6 18 says Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and this is important and watching there unto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints if we want to continue steadfastly we're talking about perseverance we want to persevere we want to continue, persevere well we'll see here in Ephesians 6 18 is that we need to be watching for the saints okay we need to be bringing our supplication supplication means our needs our needs, our prayers before God for all saints you know brethren it's good and proper to say to one another brother can you pray for me church can you pray for me you don't need to give people all the details cause sometimes you know there are private matters or there are personal sins that you just don't want to broadcast to the whole world alright we don't need to know all those things but if you turn around and say brother I've got a silent prayer maybe you're embarrassed maybe you had a fight with your spouse and you just don't want to be broadcast that broadcast that right you don't want your spouse to look like a horrible person or something like that you just say brother I've got a silent prayer the Lord knows can you please lift me up in prayer sister can you lift me up in prayer that's good and proper we have our church chat, whatsapp you know some people don't like whatsapp whatever it is right but if you've got something that you're willing to share hey church can you pray for this church fellowship to come together and bring our needs once cause we all have needs I'm sure you all have a need like I'm sure if I spend time with you enough time talking to you today you'll be saying pastor there's this issue that I need in my life you know pastor I don't know I'm struggling financially struggling to pay the bills you know pastor I've just my heart is toward the world and you know I'd rather watch Cop America than go to church this morning or church doesn't like me or I don't like this person or whatever it is right I guarantee there's something there's something pastor I've got this sickness in my body and it's just bringing me down cause I feel pain every morning when I get up or whatever you know pastor I'm single I haven't found a wife I haven't found a husband yet and it's a burden on my heart you know everyone's got some issues all of you do so this coming Thursday pizzas on the horsely alright we're going to eat we're going to feast just like this afternoon and we're going to have the Lord's table we're going to break bread and then next Thursday we're going to pray and fast okay we're going to pray and fast for our church and brethren it's good to share our concerns again however whatever measure you want to share that they came to him a certain man kneeling down and saying Lord have mercy on my son for he is a lunatic and sore vexed for oft times he falleth into the fire and oft in the water and I brought him to thy disciples and they could not cure him so this poor man his son's going crazy he's got a devil within him and he's gone to the disciples he's gone to you know these disciples have the power verse 17 then Jesus answered and said O faithless and perverse generation how long shall I be with you how long shall I suffer you bring him hither to me and Jesus rebuked the devil and he departed out of him and the child was cured from that very hour then came the disciples to Jesus apart and said why could not we cast him out and Jesus said unto them because of your unbelief for verily I said unto you if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed ye shall say unto this mountain remove hands from to you on the place and it shall remove and nothing shall be impossible unto you howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting prayer was insufficient to cast out this particular devil and I don't know the spiritual realm I don't know it enough the Bible just tells us that there are certain pieces here and there but there are some issues that just continue in our lives I'm sure there are issues you've been praying about for years and it seems like I never get an answer I never get a solution why is that? Well number one God's heard your prayers I guarantee you that he hears our prayers and maybe God's already answered it you just don't realise it the answer might be on its way one potential reason I should say is that sometimes we just don't take things in prayer and fasting you know one thing that really blew my mind was at New Life Baptist Church this was in the early days we went like three months without seeing a soul saved we're out there week in week out preaching the gospel no one's hearing us and I don't know if it was my decision or someone else's decision we just spent time praying and fasting that weekend, salvations and then every week afterwards salvation after salvation after salvation it's like okay we have to fast I don't know all the issues that we have within this church and your own personal struggles or how the Lord can further bless maybe there are hindrances to how God can further bless this church and so hey this coming Thursday we feast we break bread we have communion because I want to continue steadfastly I want blessing up Baptist Church to continue for another solid six years and beyond so brethren in conclusion title of the sermon was continue steadfastly number one for us to continue steadfastly we must continue in doctrine doctrine is so important preaching doctrine learning doctrine but be patient line upon line precept upon precept is try to form friends in church get yourself out of your comfort zone open up a little bit the best way to make friends I just think is to show interest in someone else's life that's how I make friends I just start asking you about your life within me I don't make friends very easily I don't have best friends you are all my friends that's how I see it that could be wrong my wife is my best friend and the rest of you guys are friends sometimes people say to me oh pastor you're really close to that person and I'm thinking I'm as close to that person as I'm close to you that's how I am but to me the easiest way to make friends is just to ask about your life and then when you tell me something next week oh how's that thing that you told me about last week and then that makes you feel like I care about you and then you're like you like me and then we like each other and we're friends fellowship is important I'm going to be there on Thursday please be there on Thursday if you can make it and in full we must continue steadfastly in prayers not just for our own needs but for the needs of others Alright brethren let's pray Heavenly Father Lord I want to thank you for your word thank you for the six years that you've given blessed up at this church Lord I never for the life of me thought we would last six years Lord when we started this church it was meant to just be just meant to be a band-aid solution Lord just a temporary measure Lord thank you for the faithful members that have been here Lord even from the very beginning and then added on to afterwards Lord I pray for this church Lord we are not the biggest church in Australia Lord we're not the richest church in Australia we're not even the church that has the most activities and Lord there are things that of course Lord as a church we can develop and build and Lord but we want to be able to do those things with your help Lord give us your wisdom thank you Lord for the six years and help us to continue steadfastly in your word by the help of your Holy Spirit and Lord if there's any divisions if there's any conflicts problems amongst the brethren Lord even things that I may not be aware of please I pray Lord that you'd give them peace Lord I pray that you'd bring union Lord that we would remember why we even gather together it's for the name of Christ and Lord there's nothing greater than your son and his sacrifice So Lord if we just give our attention to the most important things the spiritual things Lord I know that our church will be able to continue to do those things thank you Lord for being a great saviour for loving us Lord in Jesus name we pray Amen Alright hymn number 216 please 216 Don't forget after the service we'll have a church photo Okay 216 216 Where is it? We'll sing Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life all in the house of the Lord forever, forever I hope that will be the case for our church 216, 216 Surely goodness and mercy And now I am on my way home Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days, all the days of my life Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days, all the days of my life Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days, all the days of my life Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days, all the days of my life Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days, all the days of my life Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life He restoreth my soul when I'm weary He giveth me strength day by day He leads me beside the still waters He guards me each day I lift the Cathy Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days, all the days of my life. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days, all the days of my life. When I walk through the dark lonesome valley, my Savior will walk with me there, and safely His great hand will be made, to the mansions He's gone to prepare. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days, all the days of my life. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days, all the days of my life. And I shall burn in the house of the Lord forever, and I shall feast at the tables spread for me. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days, all the days of my life. All the days, all the days of my life. Alright, good singing everybody. Alright, very quickly, let me think. Are there any birthdays? Anyone celebrate birthday this week? No birthdays? Just the church? Happy birthday church? I think my wife's birthday is coming up this week actually, let me just check that. Thanks for the reminder guys. Let's see. Yes, it's my wife's birthday on the 6th of June, so that's Thursday. Alright, so if you want to send my wife a little text message, happy birthday on Thursday. Is that right? No, end July. Saturday, thank you mum. I was thinking, ah man, my wife's birthday on Thursday, I'm coming to church. I messed up, no it's alright, Saturday the 6th. Christina's birthday, happy birthday Christina. So there's no one else's birthday this week? No? Any wedding anniversaries? No? Alright, so don't forget we're going to do a church photo straight afterwards and then we're heading to... If you can share that address brother on the church chat. How far is it? It's about a... It's on the Halsey Drive. Yeah, maybe a 20 minute drive from here. Yeah, 15, 20 minute drive from here. Yeah, I'm trying to think, there's something else I wanted to mention. Ah, turn off the... Thanks for watching. Thanks for watching. ...that I wanted to cover. And I missed anything important. Brother Tim's got some trivia for us at the restaurant. Got pens. Oh, pens, I think we'll be okay. We'll just shout it out. Alright, let's close in a word of prayer. Brother Les, do you mind closing us in a word of prayer? Thank you. Dear Lord, thank you for allowing us to be here. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Dear Lord, thank you for allowing us to all gather here safely, hear your word for this special day, this anniversary of ours. Please bless the fellowship. Bless the drive over there, Lord. Thank you for our master, the way he preaches the word, so you can understand. And just bless the rest of the day, Lord, and give all of you his blessings in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. You're not really dismissed, because we're going to do a photo now, okay? Thank you guys. Bye.