Latest / HAVE FAITH LET IT BEGIN® / Connecting the Dots: Finding God's Plan on Pentecost Sunday
Transcript
- 0:00Good morning. This is Angel from Half Faith. Let it begin.
- 0:04As we are now into our eighth season, I thought it'd be cool to take you back
- 0:08to this past Sunday, June 8th, 2025.
- 0:14And it was an episode, well, it is an episode now. It was a sermon that I gave
- 0:19called Connecting the Dots.
- 0:21And I've edited this piece out so that you can hear it in its entirety without any interruption.
- 0:26Thank you so much for listening And I hope you enjoy it If you want to watch
- 0:30the YouTube version Which is the video format It's now up and ready to go I
- 0:36hope you enjoy it God bless you And see how God connects the dots in your life.
- 0:41Oh, and never forget Have faith, let it begin Good morning everybody Oh,
- 0:49you know I'm going to make you
- 0:49do it twice We're the church on the hill in Walden Good morning everybody,
- 0:54There we go I'd like to welcome everyone to First Reformed Church.
- 0:58My name is Angel Santana, and I am one of the elders here at the church.
- 1:02Well, I'd like to formally, once again, welcome you to the First Reformed Church
- 1:06here in Walden, as we call it, the Church on the Hill.
- 1:09Today, if you noticed, we're celebrating.
- 1:12Today is Pentecost, Pentecost Sunday.
- 1:16It is a major Christian holiday that commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit,
- 1:21The Holy Spirit upon the apostles and other disciples, marking the beginning
- 1:27of the church's mission to the world.
- 1:29It's considered the birthday of the church and celebrates the outpouring of
- 1:35the Holy Spirit, uniting believers from diverse backgrounds.
- 1:39So this morning, we welcome every single one of you, one and all, to Pentecost Sunday.
- 1:45As today, we will be remembering the descent of the Holy Spirit and how it can
- 1:51be related to God connecting the dots in our lives.
- 1:55So join us together as we bring in the light of Christ.
- 2:00So let us join together in our prayer of confession.
- 2:05May Almighty God, who caused light to shine out of darkness,
- 2:08shine in our hearts, cleansing us from all of our sins and restoring us to the
- 2:15light of the knowledge of the God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.
- 2:23Summary of Law, excuse me, Words of Assurance, states this.
- 2:28May Almighty God, who caused light to shine out of darkness, shine in our hearts,
- 2:34cleansing us from our sins and restoring us to the light of the knowledge of
- 2:40God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.
- 2:45And the summary of Lord, of law, guide us, O Lord,
- 2:49by your word and Holy Spirit, that in your light we may see light,
- 2:55in your truth find freedom, and in your will discover peace through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
- 3:04Amen. With all these beautiful things that we're hearing this morning,
- 3:07let us rise as we do the glory of Patrick.
- 3:10Music.
- 3:49A lot of times when we hear the choir sing, you can almost feel that Holy Spirit
- 3:53coming through us when they're not here, like they were last time I was here.
- 3:57It feels like we were missing something.
- 4:00So thank you to the choir for being here and singing your beautiful words. God bless you.
- 4:06So this morning, our prayer for illumination begins like this.
- 4:11Please join me in a prayer.
- 4:13Heavenly Father, today, God, we ask you to show his glory today and every day.
- 4:19He will show you this in different ways by sound, by sight, by words.
- 4:25Today, God reminds us that God loves us. God believes in us.
- 4:30God trusts us. God is with us. And God will never leave our side. Amen.
- 4:37So it's Pentecost Sunday. And I want to read these three scriptures this morning.
- 4:43We'll begin with Acts 1, verse 8. The word of the Lord.
- 4:49But you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be
- 4:54my witness in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
- 5:01We now go to Acts chapter 2, verses 1 through 8.
- 5:04The word of the Lord. When the day of the Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
- 5:11Suddenly, a sound like the blowing of the violent wind came from heaven and
- 5:17filled the whole house where they were sitting.
- 5:19They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
- 5:26All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues
- 5:31as the Spirit enabled them.
- 5:34Now they were saying in Jerusalem, in God-fearing Jews from every nation under
- 5:40heaven, when they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment.
- 5:45Because each one heard their own language being spoken.
- 5:50Utterly amazed, they asked, aren't all these who are speaking Galanese?
- 5:55Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?
- 5:59The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
- 6:02Then we go to gospel lessons, John chapter 20, verses 19 through 23.
- 6:07It's labeled as Jesus appears to his disciples.
- 6:11On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together,
- 6:15with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among
- 6:20them and he said, Peace be with you.
- 6:23After he said this, he showed them his hands at his side. The disciples were
- 6:29overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
- 6:31Again, Jesus said, Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.
- 6:38And with the breath on them, when he breathed on them and said,
- 6:42Receive the Holy Spirit. But if you forgive anyone's sins, their sins are forgiven.
- 6:49If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven. The word of the Lord.
- 6:55You know I like to change things up a little bit. Will the children please come up first?
- 7:00We have a children's lesson. Dun, dun, dun.
- 7:04How many we got today? Hello. Love the matching outfits.
- 7:10Awesome. Awesome. Come on up here. Yeah, come on up. Hey, Mary,
- 7:15how you doing? Hey. Hello.
- 7:17How you doing? How's everybody doing? Good, good. We got two more.
- 7:21I know my son Noah is probably not going to come up, but that's okay, son.
- 7:25Come on up. How are you? I love it. Love it. Yeah, let's back up a little bit
- 7:30so everybody can see and hear. You want to stand in front of me? Okay.
- 7:34So today's children's message is quite simple. Have you anybody ever heard of connecting the dots?
- 7:40Can I give you an example? Let me give you an example. Have you ever had one
- 7:43of these? Yeah. Aren't they fun? What do we do?
- 7:48You connect the dots. Right. And then when you're done connecting all the dots,
- 7:52what ends up happening? Take a guess.
- 7:56Correct. And it makes a picture, right? So we kind of have an idea who this is.
- 8:00So when we're done drawing and following the dots, right, it's kind of like
- 8:04the message today that I'm going to talk about.
- 8:06So I wanted to make you understand. So I know when I was young,
- 8:09I'd sit at the pews and I'd go, what is he saying? I don't understand what he's talking about.
- 8:14I'm going to be talking about this, connecting the dots and how God connects dots within our lives.
- 8:23Correct. And you know what one would represent? The day you were born.
- 8:26So that's what I'm going to talk about today. So everyone's going to get one of these.
- 8:30It's called connecting the dots. Each one is a little different.
- 8:33There you go. That's for you. Who likes glow sticks?
- 8:37Oh, who doesn't like glow sticks? Oh, can I give you two, Mary?
- 8:41I know you have another one there. There you go.
- 8:43All right. Good, good. All right. Glow sticks are fun. So as I'm passing the
- 8:47glow sticks, why don't we do a prayer? Is that cool?
- 8:50All right. And then I need your help. Can you guys help me with something today?
- 8:54If I give you something to pass out to everybody, would you do that for me?
- 8:57Okay. So here's a glow stick for you. Let's see if I have enough.
- 9:00If I have enough, we get two each.
- 9:02We always try to do two each, right? Two is fun. Two is fun.
- 9:05There's two. There's two. Do not bite them, okay? Here you go.
- 9:09All right. Let's pray, okay? Let's pray. All right. When we pray,
- 9:13can we do this? Let's put our hands up.
- 9:15Here we go. Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord. And we ask you for you to just
- 9:19allow this message to come through the children.
- 9:22And Lord, at this time, I want to bless every single child here as they still
- 9:26are going to school, protect the schools, protect the faculty,
- 9:29protect the school buses, protect all the surrounding environment of these schools
- 9:33all over the world, including these children right here in our hometown.
- 9:36And we pray this unto you in the name of the Father, the Son,
- 9:39and the Holy Spirit. And all of God's people said, amen.
- 9:43All right, stay right there. You need to help me do this.
- 9:46See, the adults can't hear this, so don't worry. This is just a secret between us, okay?
- 9:52Can you give everybody one of these crosses and tell them, just wait,
- 9:56it'll make sense later, okay?
- 9:58All right, so here's a handful. Go ahead. All right, go ahead,
- 10:02Ariel. You go down this aisle for me, okay, Ariel? No, you got to pass it to
- 10:04the adults. Go that way and go down that aisle.
- 10:07All right. Don't tell the adults anything.
- 10:10Secret. Okay, go ahead. Go pass those out.
- 10:14Yeah, these are crosses. And make sure you take one for yourself. Hmm?
- 10:21Oh, really? Even better. When school's over, it's fun. Okay. Anybody else? Good.
- 10:26Can I ask you to help me? I have another adult, so make sure everybody gets
- 10:29one. Can you hook up? Thank you. Sure.
- 10:33Okay. Anybody else? You good? Oh, thank you. We got some great helpers today.
- 10:38All right. Who's missing a cross? Trust me, it means something to this message.
- 10:43Anybody get a cross? Not get a cross? Please, you're... All right,
- 10:45Ariel, turn around. Whoever has a hand up. Look at this one here is crawling. That's good.
- 10:50I love it. Gentlemen, I've got you... I've got crosses for you,
- 10:53gentlemen, okay? There you go, buddy. All right.
- 10:57Keep your hand up if you haven't got a cross yet. You want one?
- 11:01You got one? Oh, you can go to the back now. You got a couple?
- 11:03Go ahead. Pass them out. Go ahead.
- 11:06Some of the adults were motioning to me. Can I get a ditto sheet?
- 11:09Don't worry, adults. I got extra for you, too, for the Connected Dots.
- 11:13A little different style. Okay, everybody's got a cross, right?
- 11:18All right, do me a quick favor. Hold a cross up for me like this.
- 11:22God is with you. I want you to hold on to this as you hear this message.
- 11:28I want you to know that what today's message is gonna bring to each and every
- 11:32one of you, this is a cross that I'm asking you to hold on at all times.
- 11:37Because at one point in our lives, we will deal with storms.
- 11:41We will have battles. and trust me when I tell you I've been facing them again
- 11:46and again and this is what gets me through my day.
- 11:50Hold on to them as you hear this message. I hope you enjoy it. Connecting the dots.
- 11:56Pentecost. Remembering the descent of the Holy Spirit can be related to God
- 12:02connecting the dots in our lives by understanding that Spirit empowers us to see patterns,
- 12:09find direction and discern from God's presence.
- 12:13In various situations. By allowing the Spirit to dwell within us,
- 12:18we can distinguish God's will, experiencing His love, and participate in His kingdom of work.
- 12:26So what does connecting the dots mean spiritually? If we take the time to look
- 12:31back in our lives, we should be able to connect the dots to see many of the
- 12:36moves that God is providing.
- 12:38He's directing, he's teaching, and he's comforting us.
- 12:42Here's a question. Does it ever feel like your life is a mess?
- 12:47Does it ever feel like your life is a mess of pieces that don't fit?
- 12:52Together, we make a beautiful picture that you hoped.
- 12:56As children, we love to play connecting the dots.
- 13:00We would grab your favorite color from your crayon box and you'd work those
- 13:04pages and those lines with excitement, never quite knowing what the picture
- 13:09would look like at the very end.
- 13:11Life is kind of like that. Each part of our life is a dot. It's a dot that God is connecting.
- 13:18You can trust that God's plan for your life will connect the dots into a beautiful masterpiece.
- 13:25Just like the God's plan for our life. But did you know that God is connecting
- 13:31the dots in your life right now?
- 13:34He has a master plan for all of us and he desires your encouragement and he's
- 13:40encouraging you this morning.
- 13:42He cares about you. He cares about me. He knows all of us by name. Oh, yes, he does.
- 13:49It's impossible to see our lives from the past, the present and the future,
- 13:54But not for god be encouraged,
- 13:58God sees the big picture from his perspective You can really trust that god's
- 14:03plan for your life will connect the dots,
- 14:06But maybe Just maybe you're doubting and having some questions Many of us are
- 14:12probably thinking today How do I know that god's plan is for my life?
- 14:17What does the Bible say about God's plan for my life? Does God have a specific plan for me?
- 14:23Can you ruin God's plan for your life? How do you know God's purpose for your life?
- 14:30God is connecting the dots. When we line up with God and you trust him,
- 14:36we will see him connecting the dots for good and his glory so we can glorify him.
- 14:43Right in the Bible, it says, Isaiah 41, chapter 41, verses 13.
- 14:48For I am the Lord, your God, the one who takes hold of your right hand,
- 14:53who says to you, do not be afraid. I am helping you.
- 14:58There have been many times in my life when I have felt too weak to measure up
- 15:02to whatever I was supposed to be in life. I looked at all my shortfalls.
- 15:07All that I could do right now is, or right then, was look at others.
- 15:12I felt afraid. I felt alone. But I knew that God was holding me up during those
- 15:18times to give me that extra strength to stand.
- 15:21And he whispered in my ears through his word, his spirit, and sometimes teaching me right from wrong.
- 15:31He knew exactly what he needed to say to me in that very moment.
- 15:35And he said to me, I am with you. I believe in you. I trust you.
- 15:40And I'll never leave your side.
- 15:43So let me share with you just how God has connected dots in my life.
- 15:48In 2014, after working seven years in AAA, I decided to move my career in a different direction.
- 15:55I went back to the original, written a partnership that originally took me in
- 16:00as a manager in 1999 called Dial America Marketing.
- 16:04I applied and they took me immediately. They said, welcome home.
- 16:07So I started to commute to Mahua, New Jersey Every morning.
- 16:11It was fun. I felt like I was doing the right thing.
- 16:15The environment was different. What they promised wasn't exactly what was happening.
- 16:20The environment was somewhat evil.
- 16:24And I started thinking, did I make the right choice? Did I just ruin God's plan for me?
- 16:29And then my marriage started to take fall.
- 16:34I call it a marriage, but we weren't even married yet. In my mind,
- 16:38in my heart, I was married to my wife.
- 16:40But we had a lot of difficult times in 2014. So much that we almost walked away from each other.
- 16:47That is until one of the colleagues came to me and said, do you believe in Jesus?
- 16:51I said, I do. I go, I go to church. He says, no, no. Do you have a relationship with Jesus?
- 16:57I said, well, yeah, I go to church. No, no, no. He said, tell me about him.
- 17:02I couldn't really get the words out.
- 17:05Eventually, we started to have Bible discussions. God knew that I was on a path
- 17:11He allowed me to take a choice And he knew the environment that I was in was
- 17:16not the right one So he sent me a disciple named Sigfredo,
- 17:20Little did I know I was Sigfredo's disciple as well And he too was struggling with his faith,
- 17:28When I heard about six to eight months into the job that they were making budget
- 17:31cuts, somebody found out that my name was on that list.
- 17:35I immediately started to look for a job and I applied for Garnet Health Medical Center.
- 17:40I heard from them a month later, had a phone interview. It went well.
- 17:46And they said they'd call me back. We'll let you know. Not the greatest thing you'd want to hear.
- 17:52Well, as my wife and I were planning our wedding for June 12th,
- 17:562015, on May 12th, I was ushered into the office and let go.
- 18:02One month to the day of my wedding, crying, driving, driving home in tears,
- 18:09thinking, what kind of husband am I going to be? I don't even have a job.
- 18:13I cried with my wife. My mom was there.
- 18:16And once I prayed a little inside of me and I took a relaxed moment,
- 18:21I asked my wife, did you check the messages, see if there's anything on there?
- 18:25She says, I think there's one.
- 18:27I said, well, how bad could it get? Push play.
- 18:31Hi, this is Nancy Harney from Garnet Health Medical Center, letting you know
- 18:36that we would love to have you be a part of the team.
- 18:39Welcome. The same day I lost my job was the same day that I got the job that I have now.
- 18:45God connects the dots. And you want to know something?
- 18:49It wasn't a great environment to start but over
- 18:53time people came and went and today I stand here in front of you and I have
- 18:58the most amazing people in my life nine individuals I work with who share with
- 19:04me who help me who have taught me the differences of way we think people like Justin Lendl Nick Lanza.
- 19:14Ralph Louis Saint, Rochelle Vaughn, a minister, Diane Misalitis,
- 19:19a minister, Emily Perez, Cheryl Hunt.
- 19:24These are the people that I work with and I'm proud to tell them my family. God connects the dots.
- 19:32Over time, I met new people, new friends.
- 19:36I became a member of the church officially. I sat in that class with Harold
- 19:42and we became members together. It was an honor.
- 19:46Then I became part of the consistory and I started to participate and I watched
- 19:51God's miracle, God's journey, God's dots connecting and holding onto me strong.
- 19:57And I felt that armor of Christ sealed just like he's doing with each and every one of you this morning.
- 20:04He wants you to know that he's with you and that he's connecting dots right now with you,
- 20:10Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me Maybe you've seen this
- 20:16put into practice And the god of peace will be with you Funny how I put it in conversation.
- 20:22I just read you a scripture That was philippians chapter 4 verse 9 You see how
- 20:27you can read scripture in a way where it's kind of conversating with god So
- 20:31the story I want to tell you today to end today's message is something I think we can all relate to.
- 20:37The story is about a young man from Detroit whose parents migrated to the United
- 20:41States from the country of Macedonia.
- 20:44This young man loved playing baseball in high school.
- 20:47He was a very good player, very talented.
- 20:50His dream was to one day play for the Detroit Tigers.
- 20:53He went away and served in our military when he returned back home in 1952.
- 20:59The Tigers had offered him a four-year contract to play in the minor leagues.
- 21:04He was thrilled. He kept working hard. He got better and better,
- 21:09believing that he would make it all the way to the big leagues.
- 21:12But three years into his baseball career, he suffered a major knee injury and
- 21:18was forced to stop playing.
- 21:19As you can imagine, he was disappointed, and all that he had worked hard for suddenly came to an end.
- 21:25He had to move back home with his parents. And his father told him already,
- 21:30when you get home, you have to get a job.
- 21:33You're going to have to participate and help us pay the rent.
- 21:36And reminder to you, son, living in a baseball career, that's not going to pay the rent.
- 21:42That's what his father told him. As luck would have it, this young man had a
- 21:46friend that owned a restaurant.
- 21:48And he asked him, could I come by for a little while and maybe just kind of
- 21:52work a little bit around?
- 21:53His friend said, hey, you know what? I'll try, but I don't have any positions
- 21:57to fill for you. He says, that's okay.
- 21:59I don't even have, you don't have to pay me. I just want to go there some days
- 22:02so that my dad knows that I'm working while I'm looking for a job.
- 22:05So his friend said, well, we don't have any positions available,
- 22:08but if you want, go to the back and you can help me make some pizzas.
- 22:12He loved it. Guess what? This man started working for free. He started making pizzas.
- 22:19He was very good at making pizzas.
- 22:21So good that he eventually opened up his own pizza restaurant. It was successful.
- 22:27People loved it so much they began to open another restaurant.
- 22:31Then he opened another one. And another. And another.
- 22:36Today, most of all of us here today have heard or have had one of these pizzas.
- 22:42The restaurant that he founded is now known to all of us as Little Caesar's
- 22:48Pizza. I did the same thing.
- 22:51So the knee injury was disappointing for this gentleman.
- 22:55Yes, it was a setback, but it wasn't the end. You see, God was connecting the
- 22:59dots toward his destiny.
- 23:01I know you're probably thinking, this would have never happened to me. How do we know?
- 23:07How do you know? The story is not over.
- 23:10God was not finished with him and he's not finished with you.
- 23:15That bad break that you may be having right now, that betrayal,
- 23:20maybe a divorce, maybe mental illness, the loss is not your final chapter.
- 23:26If you continue to being your best and keeping your love for God and dreaming
- 23:31and believing you can do anything just by trusting in God,
- 23:36all those setbacks, all those disappointments will not stop you from achieving your goals.
- 23:41It will move you to the new things that God has in store for you.
- 23:45Now, that man's dream of playing for the Detroit Tigers never came to pass.
- 23:50But did you know that at one point in his life, he was, and he had the opportunity
- 23:57to own the Detroit Tigers.
- 24:00From 1992 to 2017, and his name was Mr. Mike Litche.
- 24:07Passed away, unfortunately, in February of 2017, but he got to own the Tigers.
- 24:12It didn't happen this way. It didn't happen his way, I should say, but God had a better way.
- 24:18So what are you dreaming about to be so small? Are you trying to be something
- 24:23bigger than you already are?
- 24:25Do you think the door is closed for you? No way.
- 24:28That's okay. God has a better way because God has something greater in store
- 24:32for each and every one of you.
- 24:34God has something brighter for each and every one of you.
- 24:37Have faith and know that God is with you. We must remember to praise him.
- 24:43You have to praise him on the good days. You have to praise him on the bad days.
- 24:48We all have to trust that God has the good times by trusting God when we're
- 24:54in trouble, when you don't understand why, when you're feeling overwhelmed,
- 24:59when you're feeling uncomfortable.
- 25:01Dare to believe that God is in control. God knows what's best.
- 25:06God knows your steps. God knows the stops and orders by him. He does it all.
- 25:13Did you know this? That you can gain from him?
- 25:16We already have the DNA of our heavenly father because he created us in his image.
- 25:21So we have a powerful attitude deep down inside. Let that out.
- 25:26It's great to point out what a powerful attitude is. We have it. God is with you.
- 25:33That is power. When you say, God, I feel like I'm going backwards, but I trust you.
- 25:40God, I believe in you. This allows you to put your trust and faith in him.
- 25:44A lot of times we pray to away our difficulties. We try to pray away our troubles.
- 25:49We try to pray away our bad breaks. Well, here's the key.
- 25:54Not anointed for trouble, from trouble. The Bible tells us that God is present.
- 25:58He's a present help when we are in trouble.
- 26:01He's not going to stop every disappointment, every bad break,
- 26:06but he will give you strength.
- 26:09He will provide you with the grace, the power to go through the positive times
- 26:15with a positive attitude.
- 26:17God is preparing you to strengthen you. So don't fight for your battles alone.
- 26:23So don't live a stressed out life alone.
- 26:27God said he would push down your enemies. You will rise to power because you
- 26:32will see God connecting the dots.
- 26:34So I gave you guys crosses. Have you been holding them? Are you feeling the
- 26:40power of the Holy Spirit?
- 26:42If you're not, close your eyes. So let's continue connecting the dots together.
- 26:48Let's come together and help each other. Connect our dots to Him.
- 26:52Let us paint a picture of how we see our seconds, our minutes,
- 26:56our hours, our days, our weeks, our months, our years.
- 27:02It's time to allow God to work with you rather than against you.
- 27:07Focus on aligning your will with Him, seeking His guidance through prayer and
- 27:13scripture, and actively choosing to serve Him.
- 27:17This involves letting go of control, trusting his wisdom and seeking advice in your daily choices.
- 27:23Trust that God has a plan for your life and be opened to his guidance,
- 27:28even when it means relinquishing control.
- 27:32I'll conclude this way. Find opportunities to serve others and demonstrate your
- 27:38love for God through your actions.
- 27:41Focus on progress, not perfection.
- 27:44Embrace the idea that progress is more important than perfection. Thank you.
- 27:49Be patient with yourself as you grow in your faith.
- 27:53Remember God's promises are reflected in his scriptures, like Romans 8,
- 27:59verse 31, which reminds us that if God is for us, nothing can be against us.
- 28:06View your challenges and options. View your challenges and oppositions as opportunities
- 28:12to witness God's power, his strength, and finally find joy and fulfillment in
- 28:17knowing and following God's will.
- 28:21This will make you receptive to his guidance and will work directly in your life.
- 28:27So keep connecting your dots. Keep your faith.
- 28:31Allow God to connect the dots to your hearts and be ready to see that beautiful
- 28:37masterpiece when he calls us home. Amen.
- 28:41Let me just pray with you real quick. Thank you, Jesus, for allowing your words
- 28:45from the Bible to keep us connected to you.
- 28:48Allow my words to inspire us to go into the world and spread your word and your
- 28:53wisdom to others that we encounter.
- 28:56In Jesus' name that we pray, amen.
- 28:59At this time, we're going to be doing the Apostles' Creed. So please rise, if you may, and join us.
- 29:06I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth,
- 29:10and in Jesus Christ, his only Son,
- 29:13our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,
- 29:18suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified dead and buried.
- 29:23He descended to the dead.
- 29:24On the third day he rose again and ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right
- 29:30hand of God the Father Almighty.
- 29:32From then he shall come to us who judge the living and the dead.
- 29:35I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints,
- 29:41the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
- 29:48Thank you. And God's people said, so at this time, we'll be presenting our gifts and our offerings.
- 29:54At this time, I just want to remind each and every one of you,
- 29:57sometimes, I know when I was in my 20s, I'd go to church and I'd say,
- 30:01I don't really have much to give, walking into a church is your gift.
- 30:06So on your way out, if you feel like doing that, feel free.
- 30:10If you don't, your prayers are worth more than anything.
- 30:14Let us receive this morning's offering.
- 30:18Music.
- 30:52For that plate, please join me. Almighty God, grant the words that we've heard this day.
- 30:57May the peace of God be with you through your grace so that we can be gifted
- 31:03with all of your love and your compassion within our hearts that may bring forth
- 31:08in us the fruits of the Spirit to honor and praise your name through Jesus Christ,
- 31:13our Lord and Savior. Amen.
- 31:15Please be seated. This morning, we come together as a community.
- 31:20We come together to share our joys and sometimes our concerns.
- 31:25I would like to remind you that if you don't feel comfortable sharing your concerns,
- 31:30maybe even your joys, that is okay.
- 31:32I will give you a moment of silence to be with the Lord and share your moment with him.
- 31:37I'd like to begin with a joy. My niece, Isabella, graduated from high school
- 31:41yesterday, so congratulations to Isabella and to some of the schools that have graduated.
- 31:46I'd like to wish them nothing but good success in your future.
- 31:49Anybody else with any prayers or concerns this morning?
- 31:53Yes, Mary. Yes. Go ahead.
- 31:56She would like to let everyone know that if you haven't heard her,
- 31:59that she is grateful to be back in church.
- 32:01She thanks you all for your cards, your prayers, and she's just so happy to be here.
- 32:06We are happy to have you here. God bless you.
- 32:09Anyone else? Okay, I got two. So John, you go first then. Okay.
- 32:13Enjoy. Angel had mentioned And I want to thank the rest of us for helping out with DDS.
- 32:20I want to thank Rani Bishawa for being there. Thank you.
- 32:31Thank you. Thank you. That was an exam. Wow, 15 to 15 years. So, thank you.
- 32:39To get your husband first. But you know what? You got to get your wife first
- 32:41because, you know, happy life, happy wife.
- 32:43We're at the Bruderhof community in prayer. As kind of, yeah,
- 32:48to us there. Okay. We will.
- 32:50What was their names? Well, they were hiding in May.
- 32:54Oh my goodness. My father and Doher. Okay. We'll put them in prayer. Thank you. Yes.
- 33:00Wednesday, my next-door neighbor, Vinnie, will be going under operation for
- 33:04a lot of and turmoil part of the cell. Appreciate it. Appreciate it.
- 33:08We will. Anyone else? And let's come together as a community and pray.
- 33:15At this time, we come together as a community, as a congregation,
- 33:19to share in our joys and our prayers.
- 33:24For your goodness and generosity, Lord, we thank you. Thank you for giving us all that we need.
- 33:29Help us to praise you.
- 33:32Help us, God, in every circumstance of life. In good times and in bad,
- 33:37help us to trust in our God.
- 33:39In love and faithfulness, with all that we have and all that we are, help us to serve you.
- 33:46As we speak or write or listen to those nearby or far away, help us to share with you your love.
- 33:54We ask you to hear our prayers in silence as we think of those that are no longer with us,
- 34:00those that went hiking and were called on to be with the Lord,
- 34:03those that are going in for surgery and those that are not being mentioned out
- 34:08loud we give you a moment of silence to be with our Heavenly Father.
- 34:16We thank you Lord for the time that we have together when we join forces because
- 34:21a day without prayer is a day without power we pray this unto you as you pray
- 34:25the words that you taught us our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name
- 34:31thy kingdom come I will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
- 34:36Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
- 34:43Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
- 34:47For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
- 34:53Our time of worship has concluded. I believe we do have fellowship downstairs.
- 34:57Downstairs, you'll see on an easel a comment that says, what can we do within our community?
- 35:03Think about that. If you have something to share, feel free to talk to the elders,
- 35:07share with myself or anyone, and let's talk about that during fellowship.
- 35:11Lastly, if you can pray for the ballerinas and dancers, I forgot.
- 35:15My daughter has her second recital today, too, today.
- 35:19So prayers that she moves things around in the right ways.
- 35:24Benediction. Yes.
- 35:29That's even better. Balloons go home with the children. I leave you today with
- 35:33the benediction. It's from chapter 8 of John, verse 12.
- 35:37I am the light of the world. He who follow me shall not walk in darkness,
- 35:42but have the light of life.
- 35:44May the peace of God be with you in your heart. May the grace of God be in your
- 35:48words. May the love of God be in your hands.
- 35:51May the joy of God be in your soul. Let it be on fire and the song that lives
- 35:56in your life forever and ever, because God is with you.
- 36:01Go in peace. God bless you.