Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / June 10, 2018 | Judge Tommy Webb - You Are Special (Part 2)

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June 10, 2018 | Judge Tommy Webb - You Are Special (Part 2) · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Good morning, people of God.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: It's good to see each and every one of you this morning.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: I want to begin by reading the prayer for serenity.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_01: We know the normally know the first four lines, but let me read you the whole prayer.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: And the writer writes, God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: Here's the rest of it.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as a pathway to peace, taking as Jesus did this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it, trusting that you will make all things right if I surrender to your will, if I surrender to your will, so that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with you forever in the next.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: Chuck Swindau in his book Laugh Again basically asked the question: what has sucked out laughter out of your home, out of your relationships?
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: It is sad when I have dealt with couples, and I'm talking about Christian families, Christian couples counsel thousands.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: Have a master's degree in clinical therapy, specializing in marriage and family.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: And when I visit with these families, these couples, and within the home, there's so much tension, so much animosity, so much unforgiveness, so much bitterness that two people walk down the hallway of their home and yet they brush against a wall so they don't have to touch the other person in their journey of life.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: But in the book Laugh Again, Chuck Swindle talks about humor and how humor plays such an important part within healthy relationships.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: And in this book, he talks about a woman that he met at a conference.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: And after they had visited, he received a note from her, and he writes her note was a delightfully creative expression of one who had learned to balance the dark side of life with the bright glow of laughter.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: Among other things, she wrote, Humor has done a lot to help me in my spiritual life.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: How could I have reared 12 children starting at age 32 and not have had a sense of humor?
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: After your talk last night, I was enjoying some relaxed moments with friends I met here.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: I told them I got married at age 31.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't worry about getting married.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: I left my future in God's hands, but I must tell you, every night I hung a pair of men's pants on my bed and knelt down and prayed this prayer.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: Father in heaven, hear my prayer and grant it if you can.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: I've hung a pair of trousers here.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: Please fill them with a man.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: The following Sunday, I read that humorous letter to our congregation, and they enjoyed it immensely.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: I happened to notice the different reaction of a father and his teenage son.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: The dad laughed out loud, but the son seemed preoccupied.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: On that particular Sunday, the mother of this family had stayed home with her sick daughter.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, neither father nor son mentioned the story because a couple of weeks later I received a note from the mother, and the note read, Dear Chuck, I'm wondering if I should worry about something.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: It has to do with our son.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: For the last two weeks, I have noticed that before our son turns the light out and goes to sleep at night, he hangs a woman's bikini.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: He hangs a woman's bikini over the foot of his bed.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: Should I be concerned about this?
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: I assured her there's nothing to worry about.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I am pleased to announce that the young man recently married, so maybe the swimsuit idea works.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: Humor and I pray this morning that in the journey of life, humor is part of your relationship within your home, within your family, within your friends.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: If you have your Bibles with you, would you turn with me to John chapter 21?
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: And Matthew 19.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: John 21, verses 15 through 19.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: And then Matthew 19, 16 through 26.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: John 21, beginning with verse 15.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, Do you truly love me more than these?
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, Lord, he said, You know that I love you.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus said, Feed my lambs.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: Again, Jesus said, Simon, son of John, do you truly love me?
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: He answered, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus said, Take care of my sheep.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: The third time he said to him, Simon, son of John, do you love me?
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, Do you love me?
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: He said, Lord, you know all things.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: You know I love you.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus said, Feed my sheep.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: I tell you the truth.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: When you were younger, you dressed yourself and went where you wanted.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: Then he said to him, Follow me.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: Follow me.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: Now you turn with me to Matthew.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: Matthew chapter 19, beginning with verse 16.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: And as my marker in my Bible, I just have this little card that my granddaughter made for me.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I just wanted to share that with you.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think it's a beautiful card.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: She's only six years old.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: Pretty artistic, isn't she?
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: She writes, I love you, Papa Tom.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: I hope you have a nice birthday.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: Family.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: Matthew chapter 19, beginning with verse 16.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: Why do you ask me about what is good?
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus replied, There is only one who is good.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: Now remember, the question he asked was, What must I do?
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: What must I do?
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: Which ones?
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: The man inquired.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus replied, Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: All these I have kept, the young man said.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: What do I still lack?
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus answered, If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: Then come, follow me.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: When the young man heard this, he went away sad because he had great wealth.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: Then Jesus said to his disciples, I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: Again, I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, Who then can be saved?
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus looked at them and said, With man, this is impossible.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: But with God, all things are possible.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: James Dobson, in his book, Straight Talk to Men and Their Wives, talks about spending time with his father.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: And he writes, My dad also loved my mother with great intensity.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: This fact was beautifully illustrated last year when my parents came to visit us in California.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: Dad and I took a walk in a nearby park one morning, and as usual, he was talking and I was writing.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: He then reached into his pocket and retrieved a crumbled sheet of paper which looked very old.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: He said, You might be interested in reading the statement.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: These are words I expressed to your mother before we were married 42 years ago.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: They were not read to her.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: But I later, they were not read to her, but I later wrote down the thoughts I had communicated.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: The message was written on the paper.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: I want you to understand and be fully aware of my feelings concerning the marriage covenant, which we are about to enter.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: I have been taught at my mother's knee and in harmony with the word of God that the marriage vows are inviolable, and by entering into them I am bonding myself absolutely and for life.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: The ideal of estrainment from you to divorce for any reason at all, although God allows one infidelity, will never at any time be permitted to enter into my thinking.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I'm not naive in this.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: On the contrary, I'm fully aware of the possibility, unlikely as it now appears, that mutual incompatibility or other unforeseen circumstances could result in extreme mental suffering.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: If such becomes the case, I am resolved for my part to accept it as a consequence of the commitment I am now making and to bear it if necessary to the end of our lives together.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: I have loved you dearly as a sweetheart and will continue to love you as my wife.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: But over and above that, I love you with a Christian love that demands that I never react in any way toward you that would jeopardize our prospects of entering heaven, which is the extreme, supreme objective of both our lives.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I pray that God Himself will make our affection for one another perfect and eternal.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: And then Jim writes, Isn't that a beautiful way to say I love you?
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: How badly America needs husbands and fathers who are committed to their families.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: Men who are determined to succeed in this important responsibility.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: And his devotion to my mother grew steadily through their 43 years of marriage.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: They were mutually dependent in the way God intended.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: It is fitting, therefore, that in his final moment of consciousness, he fell toward my mother and died peacefully in her arms.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: What a challenge for each and every one of us men as we go through the journey of life.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: Husbands, fathers.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: Any of you here have pet peeves?
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: I can hear it, yeah, we do.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: One of my pet peeves is, and ladies, please forgive me.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: But when I open the shower door, there's a glob of hair sitting on the drain.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: It just takes a second to pick up that hair and throw it away.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_01: One day, Judy and I, this is in uh probably around 1997, 30 some years ago.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: Judy and I were getting ready to go to a social function, and and uh she had gotten out of the shower and she went to the kitchen to check on some of the food that she was preparing for the social gathering.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: And as she went into the kitchen, I finished up brushing my teeth, and I went over and I opened the shower door, and there on the drain was a glob of hair.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: I thought, oh my, I can't believe she didn't pick this up.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: And if you had asked my children, Brooke or Troy, have you ever heard your father raise his voice to their mother?
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: They would say, Oh, never.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: Dad never does it.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_01: I'm glad they weren't there that day.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_01: Because when I opened the shower door and I saw that glob of hair, the first thing that came out of my mouth was, Jobby.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: And when I said that that loud, all of a sudden, I realized you're yelling.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: But then I rationalized and justified.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: The reason I had to raise my voice was because from the master bathroom is our bedroom, this is southwest Kansas, is our master bedroom that's 22 feet by 22 feet.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_01: French doors open into the family room that's 22 feet by 22 feet, that goes into the kitchen.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: And for Judy to hear me from the bathroom, I had to raise my voice and say, Judy.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: When I said that, I heard Judy running.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: And she stood by the door, saying, Tommy, oh, what's what's what's the matter?
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: To which I went, didn't say a word.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: To which she gave me one of those looks.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: Ladies, you know what I'm talking about.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: She gave me one of those looks, and then she said to me, Step out of the way.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: I will take care of it.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: To which I said, Don't worry, I take care of it.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: I just can't believe you left it there.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: And she gave me that look again, turn around, and tromped off into the kitchen.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: I bent over, I picked up that clammy, cold, dirty clump of hair, palm my hand, and then I put my other hand underneath it, went over, and I measured six feet.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: Judas just ran 40-some feet to come to the bathroom.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: It's only six feet from the door to the trash can.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_01: I go six feet, dump the hair into the trash can.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: Now I'm headed for the shower, but to me, that grosses me out so badly that I turn the faucet and I wash my hands before I get into the bathroom.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: You know?
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, pet peeve.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: You know?
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: There's some things in life you just can't change about yourself.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know?
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: This way God made us.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: I can't change.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I took a shower that day and we went to our social event.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: About six months later, Judy is working as a respiratory therapist in Garden City, Kansas.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: Only about 40 miles from our house to the hospital.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: She drove that five times a week.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: She received a call from Guiman, Oklahoma, the hospital at Gaiman, Oklahoma.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: Good friend of ours was the director of respiratory therapy.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: She called and said, Judy, we want you to come here and work at Guyman, Oklahoma.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: Judy said no.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: She called again and Judy said no.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: She called again and Judy said no.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: Then a few weeks later, she called again for the fourth time.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: And she said, Well, let me think about that.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: And let me talk to Tommy, and I'll let you know tomorrow that evening, she said, Tommy, this is what they're offering and the salary and the benefits, and they're gonna allow me to come and work three days, stay at the hospital, no expense to me, and then I'll be done.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: I'll be home four days.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: I said, Well, Judy, I said, that's wonderful.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: Why are you even thinking about it?
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: Say yes.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: She said, I only have one concern.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: I said, What's that, honey?
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: She said, You'll be home alone for three days.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't know if you can deal with it.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: Seriously?
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: I've got the master's degree.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: I provide tools for people.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have to worry about me.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a big boy.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's a wonderful package.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: Take it.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: She said, seriously, Tommy.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: You travel, you're gone at times.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_01: But now I will be leaving and you'll be home alone for three days, taking care of yourself.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: I can do it.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: I can do it.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: She said, okay.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: And she accepted the position in Guiman, Oklahoma.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: In a few weeks, Monday morning, she's supposed to be at work like seven o'clock in the morning.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: The alarm goes off at 2.30 in the morning because she doesn't want to be late.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: She doesn't get there early.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: And at 3:30 in the morning, her car is pulling out of the driveway, and I'm standing there waving goodbye to her.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_01: And then I get back in bed.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I set the alarm to get up that morning.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: I got up that morning and got ready and went to work.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: And that evening, the Monday evening after work, I came home, I opened the door, and out of habit, I said, Judy, I'm home.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: Silence.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_01: Silence.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: And all of a sudden, reality hit me.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: She's not here.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: And she won't be here for three days.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I'll be honest with you guys.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: I walked into the living room and I sat there.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_01: And a tears just came to my eyes.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I never told Judy this.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: I hope she doesn't watch this.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_01: But I struggled for five or six months being home alone while she was working.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, we'd visit on the phone, but it wasn't the same.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: About six or seven months later, we're getting ready to go to a social event.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: And Judy's in the shower and she gets done and she goes into bed to get her dress and everything on.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I go to the shower door and I open the shower door.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: When I open the shower door, there's a glob of hair on the drain.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: I bent over and I scooped that hair and put it into the palm of my hand.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: And then I put my other hand over this hand and just held that hair in my hand.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: Because it meant that she was home.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: It meant that she was home.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Scenario six months before.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: Total different behavior.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: What had changed?
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: A situation, circumstance?
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_01: My attitude, my attitude had changed.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: Because Jesus was saying, Tommy, I don't want you just to grow old in our relationship, but I want you to mature in our relationship.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: I want you to be more like me as a husband and as a father.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: And when he put that situation before me, I listened and I said, Yes to him.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: Know that which we have no control to change and that which we do have control to change.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: Husbands, Jesus said, follow me.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_01: Like Peter, do we say, oh yes, we'll follow you.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_01: Or like the rich young man, do we look at Jesus and say, You gotta be kidding me?
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_01: You might you want me to do what?
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: You gotta be kidding me.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: And Jesus is saying to you and I, follow me.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: Follow me.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: Do you love me?
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: Then follow me.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: Our daughter Brooke in the 70s had a beautiful home overlooking Hillsdale Lake.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember one day spending some time in her home, and early one morning, about 5 or 5:30 in the morning, I got up and fixed a pot of coffee and sat on that porch and looked out to the lake and the fog was there.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's just beautiful, beautiful, crisp morning, enjoying my cup of coffee.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: And within my mind, I was thinking about the years as a father with Brooke as my daughter, thinking about different situations, thinking, oh, I wish I could have changed that.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: I wish I would have said something differently in that situation.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_01: But as I was thinking about our relationship, Brooke came out with a cup of water or a cup of coffee, and she had a blanket around her.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_01: And she sat on my lap and put her arms around me.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: And we're sitting there and we're rocking together.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I said to my daughter, oh Brooke, I've been thinking this morning.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: And wishing that I could just go back and change some things.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: I wish I could have been a better father for you.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_01: To which she said, Daddy, I wouldn't have changed a thing.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_01: She wasn't saying that my methods were the best.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: Because sometimes they weren't.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_01: Because I'm imperfect.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: What she was saying was, oh, I never questioned your motive.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: I knew the things that you did was because you loved me.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I would never have changed a thing.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: As I was sitting there that morning before Brooke came to join me, I was thinking about a little church that I'd pastored in Cody, Wyoming.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: And while I was pastoring that little church, they had elected me to be the president of the youth association for Montana and Wyoming and some outreaching areas.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the responsibilities of being the president of that association is that we had to put together the convention every year.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I went to my little congregation and I said, you know, I would love to have this conference here, this convention here in Cody, Wyoming, but oh, it's gonna take a lot of work.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: And those people looked at me and said, Pastor, we can do it.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: We can do it.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: We'll put on a hamburger fight, we'll put on a hayride, we're gonna do this and that.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_01: And boy, they just took off with it, and it was just fantastic.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_01: And that three-day convention, the auditorium we had was just packed out.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: The last day of that convention that morning, we were having our last service.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: I had a speaker that had flown in from Kansas City.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_01: We had a band that came in from Lampa, Idaho.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: Things were just fantastic morning.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_01: We had people from northwest Montana that had over four or five hundred miles to travel home.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I knew I needed to get them out of that convention that that day so they could travel home that Saturday afternoon and evening.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: But as I got on the platform, I said, you know, before I dismiss today, I want us to go around and shake hands with those that worked so hard and the leaders within our district, and just let them know how much you appreciate them and just thank them.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: Let's do that.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: And people were shaking hands and everything.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: In front row was a district superintendent, his wife.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: My wife was sitting right next to the DS's wife, and my daughter, who's about nine years of age, was sitting next to my wife.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_01: And as I left the platform shaking hands, my goal was to get out to the back where my parishioners were who'd done all the work for this convention to let them know how much I appreciated them, that I loved them.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: By the time I got back there, most of the people had already sat down and was waiting for me to conclude that convention, dismiss it with a word of prayer.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: But I took the time to shake each one of their hands and say thank you.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate you.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: I love you.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: I couldn't have done this without you.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_01: And then as I turned and walked, I could see the eyes of all the people, some of them thinking, Come on, Tommy, we got a long drive ahead of us.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I walked up the steps and I got to the platform.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_01: When I got to the platform and the podium, I looked and there in the front row, next to my wife, was my little nine-year-old daughter.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: And instead of looking up at me, she had her head down like this, and her shoulders were just drooped.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_01: And in that instant, I realized no one had gone to her to shake her hand, to let her know that she was special.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: Instead of closing that day, I took a step off that platform.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_01: I went in front of my daughter and I knelt before her, raised her chin up, and I looked her straight in the eyes.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_01: I said, Brooke, I want you to know that I appreciate you so much.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_01: I am so thankful that you are my daughter, and I love you so very much.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_01: She threw her little arms around me and she just started squeezing my neck.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: And through her sob, she said, Daddy, I love you so very much.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: Daddy, I love you so very much.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: After a little bit, I let go of her and I step back on that platform and I dismissed that convention with a word of prayer.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_01: As I think back to that morning, I want you to know I got it right.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_01: That was a morning I got it right.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_01: Dad's mom, sometimes we get so busy with the important things of life.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: They are important, but we forget about that which is truly important in the journey of life.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_01: And when Jesus says, I want you to follow me, he will empower us to be the light, not just to the world, but to love our neighbors and husbands.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_01: Your closest neighbor is your wife, wife, your closest neighbor is your husband, and then it's our children, family, church family, community.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_01: And the reason we are to follow Jesus is so that we can shine, allow his love to be experienced by those around us.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: The reason that we're attending, I'll just be honest with you.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: The reason that we're attending TBC is because when we came here about three years ago, our daughter and our grandchildren were attending TBC.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_01: But the reason we continued attending is because as I sat and listened to our pastor preach, the truth was being expressed, was being shared, and I was being challenged as a person to be a worthy walker with Jesus in the journey of life.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I am so thankful for this church that we have, and what a privilege I felt to sit and worship with a body of believers.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_01: But after Judy and I attended here for probably close to a year, and we traveled quite a bit speaking in different places, I said to Judy, Judy, we need to get more involved.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_01: It's one thing just to sit and worship and draw and gain, but we need to get involved in a Sunday school class, the fellowship, the body of believers.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so we started thinking of which Sunday school class, and we just found a little intimate group of people, about 150, called the Corner Neo Sunday School Class.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I challenge you, if you do not have a Sunday school class, there's many that's being offered in our church.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: Get involved.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_01: Because that is where we dig into the word, the truth, the word of God.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_01: And we also get involved in the fellowship, the corner of believers, and we are following Jesus because not only are we just drawing in, but it gives us the opportunity to give back out to those around us.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_01: And next Sunday, I'm going to teach the Cornonia Sunday school class.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_01: So if you don't have a Sunday school class, I would like to just offer that extension of invitation to come and to join us.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_01: When I preached at my little church in Arizona, one of the things that I shared was the steps of salvation, steps to peace with God by Billy Graham.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_01: On the back of that little brochure, it talks about five things that we need to do that we're going to be followers of Jesus.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_01: Number one, read your Bible every day to know Christ better.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_01: We need to love God.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_01: We need to know God.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_01: We need to serve God.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: There's so many of us that come and we listen to the word and then we put our Bibles away, or we never bring our Bibles to church, but our Bibles sit in our homes and we never open the Word of God, and we wonder why we struggle in the journey of life.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_01: Read the Word of God.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_01: Number two, talk to God in prayer every day.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_01: I don't mean you have to get on your knees and say, God, here I am.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_01: That's not gonna hurt you.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_01: Prayer is talking with God, and I want you to know there's times that I'm driving and I'm talking with God.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_01: I keep my eyes open though.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_01: But I'll be honest with you, there's times I'm driving, and Jesus and I are talking, and I'm listening, and he speaks to me, and I just have to pull over because the tears are flowing, and I'm praising God.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_01: Spending time with him in prayer.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: Judy and my daughter Brooke left this morning to go to Omaha Hospital where our son is.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_01: But I want you to know as soon as I leave the service at noon, I'm gonna get on the phone and I'm gonna talk to Judy.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_01: I've already talked to them this morning, but I'm gonna talk to them again.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_01: Why?
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_01: Because I love them.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_01: I love them.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I want to spend that time with them, even when they're apart from me.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a Christian and I love Jesus.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_01: But Jesus, this is Sunday.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_01: Had prayer, pastoral prayer.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_01: And we don't say it verbally, but in action-wise.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_01: I'll see you next Sunday.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_01: I wonder how faithful we would think our mailman or male person was if they delivered mail four times a week instead of six times.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_01: Would you consider that being faithful?
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_01: If your hot water heater six days a week gave you hot water, but on one of those days, you turn on, you get in, also you get cold water.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_01: No hot water.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_01: Would you consider that faithful?
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_01: And Jesus says, if you're going to follow me, then I want you to be faithful unto me.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_01: Romans 12, 1 says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present yourselves holy and pleasing unto him which is your reasonable service.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_01: Talk with God in prayer every day.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_01: Tell others about Christ.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_01: Number four, worship fellowship and serve with other Christians in a church where Christ is preached.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_01: And number five, as Christ's representative in a needy world, demonstrate your new life by your love and concern for others.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_01: To love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength, and your neighbor as yourself.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_01: Husbands, your wife is your closest neighbor.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_01: Wife, your husband is your closest neighbor.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_01: Parents, your children.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_01: Do you understand?
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_01: There's a writer that wrote a song entitled At the Cross, at the Cross, where I first saw the light, and the burdens of my heart rolled away.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_01: It was there by faith, not by works.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_01: It was there by faith I received my sight, and now I am happy all the day.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_01: Was it for crimes that I have done?
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_01: He groaned up on the tree.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_01: Amazing pity, grace unknown, and love beyond degree.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_01: But drops of grief cannot repay the debt of love I owe.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_01: Here, Lord, I give myself away.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's all that I can do.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_01: At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burdens of my heart just rolled away.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_01: It was there by faith that I received my sight.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_01: And now I am happy all the day.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_01: Would you bow your heads with me this morning?
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_01: Will you allow this morning as you sit in that pew?
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_01: A time that you open your heart to Jesus.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_01: And say, Jesus, what changes would you like for me to make in my life?
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_01: I believe he's calling you by name this morning and asking you, do you love me?
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_01: Do you love me?
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_01: Do you love me?
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_01: And if you respond by saying, Yes, Jesus, I love you, then his words are, follow me.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_01: Follow me.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_01: I would just like to sing the chorus of this song at the cross.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_01: As I sing this chorus, I want you to allow this time to be a time where you and God speak to one another.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_00: At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burdens of my heart just rolled away.
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_00: It was there by faith I received my sight, and now I'm happy all the day at the cross at the cross where I first saw the light and the burdens of my heart just rolled away.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_00: It was there by faith I received my sight.
• 40:42
  SPEAKER_00: And now I'm happy all the day.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_01: Our gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for your love.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_01: We thank you for your love that's been given to each and every one of us.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_01: As I spoke last week about you are special, I hope and pray that every person realizes that we are special because of the price that Christ paid on that cross for each and every one of us.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_01: And help us to say yes to you and to follow you and to walk in the light that you have given to us and to let go of those things that we have no control over.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_01: But listen and obey to be the person that you want us to be in the journey of life as we follow you to eternal life through the abundant life that you give to us as your children.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_01: Father, we pray this prayer in the precious name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Lord.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_01: And all the people said, Amen, amen.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_01: God bless you.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_01: Have a great week.