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5/13/26 Wednesday Evening Bible Study - Pastor Charlie Branch - Meadows Baptist Church · Meadows Baptist Church Podcast

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Heat. Heat.
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Heat.
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Heat. Heat.
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Heat.
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Heat. Heat.
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Well, good evening everyone and welcome
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to Meadows Baptist Church midweek
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service.
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We have our kids club and Bible study
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tonight. If I could get some uh kids
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come down to the uh pledging stations.
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We'll get started with our service
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tonight.
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Glad to see each and everyone out
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tonight worshiping the Lord together.
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Amen.
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Amen. Let's begin our service tonight by
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standing and we'll sing blessed be the
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name. Blessed be the name.
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All praise to him who reigns above in
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majesty supreme
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who gave his son to die that he might be
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redeemed.
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Blessed be the name. Blessed be the
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name. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
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Blessed be the name. Blessed be the
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name. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
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His name above all name shall sing.
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Exalted more and more
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like God the Father's own right hand
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where angels host adore.
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Blessed be the name. Blessed be the
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name. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
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Blessed be the name. Blessed be the
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name. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
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Redeemer, savior, friend of man was
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ruined by the fall.
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Thou has deied salvation's plan. for
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thou has died for all.
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Blessed be the name. Blessed be the
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name. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
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Blessed be the name. Blessed be the
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name. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
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His name shall be the counselor.
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The mighty prince of peace
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above all kingdoms conquer
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whose reign shall never cease.
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Blessed be the name. Blessed be the
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name. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
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Blessed be the name. Blessed be the
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name. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
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Amen. Amen. Now for our pledges for
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tonight.
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First, the American flag. Attention.
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Salute. Pledge. I pledge allegiance to
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the flag of the United States of America
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and to the republic for which it stands,
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one nation under God, indivisible, with
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liberty and justice for all.
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The Christian flag.
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I pledge allegiance to the Christian
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flag and to the Savior for whose kingdom
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it stands. One savior crucified, risen,
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and coming again with life and liberty
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to all who believe.
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And now the Bible.
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I pledge allegiance to the Bible, God's
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holy word. I will make it a lamp unto my
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feet and a light unto my path. I will
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hide its words in my heart that I might
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not sin against God. Amen. You may be
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seated.
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Well, amen. Good evening, church. Good
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to see you in the house of the Lord
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tonight. Appreciate you being here and I
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trust you've had a good week so far. But
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thank you for coming out and being
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faithful being in your place tonight.
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And I appreciate the Lord allowing us to
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be back again on this evening. And I
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thank the Lord uh for your prayers.
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Appreciate y'all praying for us
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traveling mercies um this past few days
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as we've been uh gone to a meeting.
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Thank you for praying for us and I do
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appreciate the Lord watching over us.
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It's good to be back tonight. And I got
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a couple of announcements here I want to
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go over uh just quickly and then we'll
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get right on with our prayer request
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time this evening. Of course, do
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remember uh this coming up Saturday,
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we'll be having our uh visitation
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program that'll be going on um at the
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Mayfest there in town at Walnut Cove. So
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that'll be from 10 to 2 on Saturday. And
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what we want to do is summits already
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volunteered um from 10 to 11 that day.
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And so we don't have it ain't necessity
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that we stay the whole time. Don't even
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know that we'll have enough material uh
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to stay the whole time. Um but if you
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want to come that morning, uh come by
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and help. There's no way.
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>> Huh?
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>> Yeah. Let us know if you're coming, but
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if you want to come by and help, come
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on. They won't There's no way that we'll
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have too much help. And so, um just come
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and be a part of that. Uh on Saturday,
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we'll start there at 10 o'clock and uh
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Lord willing, we'll have a snow cone
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machine there and water bottles, things
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of that nature and hand out.
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>> That's for the Okay, for the teens to
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get t-shirts for camp. So, all right,
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remember that on Saturday and we'll
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start at 10:00 and go till however long
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that gets done. I think the day ends at
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like 3:00 there from what I saw in town.
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So, um, just remember that on Saturday.
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And then Sunday, of course, we'll have
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service on Sunday. Remember that. And
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let me get my calendar pulled up right
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here. And we'll look at the rest of
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these dates. Um, do be praying. Uh, I
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don't know if I mentioned this to you as
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of yet. Um, but we will be having a
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missionary with us um at the end of this
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year. The reason why I make mention of
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this now is because I want you to be
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putting this in your calendar. Brother
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Trey Dylan, he was here uh with us last
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year in missions conference. He's one of
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the new missionaries um with Prayer
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Baptist Missions. Was able to talk to
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him uh on yesterday and he's going to be
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with us November the 29th of this year.
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And I want you to be praying for them
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specifically. Um he told me yesterday um
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that he's got 322 church services to be
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in this year. And uh so continue to pray
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for them if you would please. And his
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support, he's looking at getting all of
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it raised um by next year and hopefully
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by next spring going to be on the field
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there in Portland. And so that's going
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to be absolutely incredible um to see
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God do that. And so if y'all would pray
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for them and that's the reason why I
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brought up he will be here with us uh in
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November, but be praying uh for them uh
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if you would please. All right. And so
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let's remember that. And then um not
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this coming Sunday, but the next Sunday
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will be our friends and family day. Be
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bathing that in prayer as well. I'm
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praying that God will bless that day and
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then be praying um for the preacher
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that'll be here with us that evening,
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the singers and all of that. Be inviting
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folk to come to that. All right. Be
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inviting people out uh to our service
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that day. And that evening service, I'm
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thinking, by the way, we've got that
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scheduled um that even if other people
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are not having church, um they can still
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come on and be a part of that service
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with us or if they are having church
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that Sunday night, they can still come
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and be a part of that. And uh so just
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invite all that you can uh to come and
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be with us on the 24th to friends and
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family day. Uh so remember that. And
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then youth Sunday on the 31st. Be
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praying about that. And uh with that in
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mind, the teenagers will be standing
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here tonight. The young people will be.
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So you're staying here with us tonight
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uh this evening. Okay. Be praying about
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uh camps coming up there in the month of
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June. Um, I did finally get the dates um
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for the camp there at Light on the
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Mountain camp that I'll be helping with.
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And that'll be going on the week after
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Bible school. All right. June the 21st
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or June the 22nd through June the 25th.
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And so if you're interested in going to
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that, you see me about that. That'll be
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um June, that's for juniors and for
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teens. And so if you want to go to that,
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you just see me and we'll get you in on
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that. I really did think that they had
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told me it was in July, but it is in
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June. And so that'll be the week after
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Bible school. So, be praying about that.
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Be praying about Bible school and
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praying that God would bless that. Those
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four days, we'll have meeting there. And
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be praying that God will send us some
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children uh to witness to during that
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time and pray that God uh would bless
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it. Amen. And so, remember all of these
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dates coming up and uh do be praying.
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I'll mention this too. You can put this
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in your calendar if you want to. good
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meeting uh to be a part of next week.
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They're at Westside Baptist Church.
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Brother Tony Feny and brother Barry
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Rackley will be preaching there at
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Westside on next week and that'll be
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Monday night through Friday night. And
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uh guarantee you that'll be great
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preaching and so go be a part of that if
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you can support the meeting there at
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Westside. I know it'll be a blessing to
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you. And there's all kinds of meetings
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coming up here um in the 1 of June
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there. Um and I'll say more about that
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if you want to be a part of any of
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these. And I'll say this as well. If
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there's ever any a desire that you have
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to go to a meeting and you just like for
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somebody to go with you, uh you come and
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see me and I I'll drop whatever I'm
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doing, we'll go. Amen. And I tell you
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what, I believe we ought to stay
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together in these days and the
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like-minded churches ought to fellowship
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and enjoy that. And so if you ever have
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that desire, you you don't feel don't be
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afraid to come and talk to us and we get
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enough people to go, we'll take a van
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and go. Amen. And so remember that uh if
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you would please. And I will say this,
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you can put it on your calendar. We're
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going to be having marriage conference
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next year in February again. And so be
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putting that on. It's not not got the
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dates nailed down yet. Um but it is
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going to be in the month of February.
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And so be praying about that as well.
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I'm going looking to get that done uh in
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the next few weeks. Okay? Uh so remember
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that if you would please. All right.
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Prayer request this evening. Got several
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I need to make mention of tonight. Um,
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if you would please uh continue to pray
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for the family of Miss Michelle Lester.
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Um, be praying for Miss Anne and the
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girls, all of those other sisters and
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and brother there. Um, be praying for
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them if you would please and her two
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children. Pray that God would help them
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uh during this time. There will be a
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graveside service at Shining Light
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Cemetery uh tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. And so
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if you want to go by to that, that'll be
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tomorrow there at Shining Light. But do
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be praying for the family and remember
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those of you I think that's y'all's food
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team tomorrow at 5:00. So be praying
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about that as well. Um let's continue.
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>> Okay. If you brought if you brought food
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for Brooke tonight, give it to who now?
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>> Whitney if Okay. I don't see her here
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yet. Bring it to Abby. Okay. Bring it to
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Abby. All right. So um if you have food,
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bring it to Abby. And for that tomorrow
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evening. All right. Let's remember them
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in prayer um this evening. Um let's
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continue to pray for brother Eric,
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sister Donna. Good to see y'all tonight.
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Let's remember uh them and John. Pray
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for them uh tonight. Um there's another
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request of prayer here. Let me get this
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pulled up. Let's remember um Brother
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Charles Barum. He is at home uh now um
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as what brother Donald told me there a
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minute ago. But let's pray desperately
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for them um during this time. Brother
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Charles is in bad shape. All right. Bad
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shape. He wouldn't want me to disclose
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it. Alice is not doing well either and
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so we need to pray for them. I believe
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they both got appointments Friday. Ain't
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that what you said? Both of them have
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>> Okay. So, let's pray for them. Please
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pray. Pray desperately for them uh
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during this time. Um desperate needs
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with our help. So, pray God uh would
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help and touch them. All right. Um let's
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remember Miss Janet, her procedures got
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moved to this Tuesday is what you said.
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So, let's remember that. What time do
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you know what time it is?
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Okay, let's pray about that and continue
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to pray for her and pray the Lord to be
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with her. And how's Todd doing?
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>> That's good. All right. Praise the Lord.
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And uh that just don't happen. I'm
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already losing my hearing. They told me,
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he said, "You going to have to quit
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running bulldozers without ear
17:12
protection." But I told them I can't
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hear it run if I have ear protection on.
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So, and got to have something to
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entertain you. But anyway, let's
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remember brother Todd. Let's remember
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Janet in prayer as well. And u I know
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I'm forgetting something here, but I'll
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get it pulled up in a minute. Does
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anybody else got a prayer request
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tonight before we pray?
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>> Yes, ma'am.
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>> All right, let's remember
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Amen.
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Let's remember that.
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>> Yeah.
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And she's down there with Sherry, ain't
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she?
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>> She lives down there where Sherry's at,
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don't she?
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>> Yeah.
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>> Okay.
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>> Yeah. All right. Yeah. Let's remember
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them. Yeah. Let's remember Miss Sherry
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in prayer. Pray for them during this
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time. Pray God be with them. Amen.
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>> Go ahead, sister.
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All right. All right. Let's continue to
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pray for that request of prayer.
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>> Someone else. Yes, ma'am.
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>> Amen.
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>> Did she Did Rhonda get any news last
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week?
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>> Okay.
19:10
on it own.
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>> Hey man, let's continue to pray for
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them.
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I guess they still haven't done anything
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with Miss Barbara's heart, have they?
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>> Yes, she had a procedure.
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>> Oh, she did?
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>> Okay, good. All right, let's remember
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that.
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Someone else.
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Yes, ma'am.
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Bless her heart. Let's remember sister
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prayer this evening.
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Let's remember that tonight. Yes, ma'am.
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Amen.
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Amen. Let's do remember that tonight.
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Someone else
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Yeah.
20:27
>> Yeah. Let's remember that
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someone else. Yes, ma'am.
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>> Yes.
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Let's remember Miss Jean's family in
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prayer.
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Someone else tonight.
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Amen. Let's remember that.
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>> Someone else is seeing.
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Amen.
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Someone else has seen.
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>> Yes, sir.
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>> Let's continue to pray for Miss Marylu
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in prayer. Remember her. and uh
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had a better week this week.
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>> Seems like that's the story gets told
21:34
anymore, ain't it? Let's remember that.
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Do pray about Miss Pray about Miss Mar
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situation. Remember that this evening?
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Is any other request of prayer tonight?
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Do we will make mention of this tonight?
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I got uh news uh one of our
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organizations we support out of the
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missions fund here uh at MED is the
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Tabernacle Children's Home um down there
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in Greenville this past week their their
21:59
children's home came by and sang and let
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us know kind of what was going on there
22:03
in the meeting and uh they said that the
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due to codes and those of you that are
22:09
in building you know how ridiculous that
22:11
is. um the code for their building has
22:13
come up and there they were going to
22:14
have to put in a sprinkler system for
22:17
their building. Well, if you know
22:19
anything about that, that is probably
22:20
about the most expensive thing that you
22:22
can possibly do to a building. Um they
22:25
quoted them $3 million to put a
22:28
sprinkler system into their building um
22:31
that they have existed and uh but what
22:35
they were able to do and this is the way
22:36
the Lord works. They did find find out
22:39
that they could build another building
22:41
um for $4 million. And so crazy, but but
22:45
they could build a bigger facility,
22:47
nicer facility, newer facility up to
22:49
code and uh everything be okay. And so
22:52
they they've prayed about it and they
22:55
are starting phase one of that project.
22:57
Um and they made mention there in the
23:00
medium they took up I think about $8,000
23:03
um for that. But we support them and be
23:06
praying. I really feel impressed the
23:07
Lord to send some money for that um to
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help them. Um I know that's that's a lot
23:12
of money but um there were um I guess
23:15
what what were there probably 15 kids
23:17
there I guess when 16 kids and brother
23:19
Finny made this statement and I agree
23:21
with him 100%. um after they got up and
23:24
sang, did a beautiful job. Got up and
23:25
sang and some of them spoke and
23:27
testified in in about 400, missed about
23:29
400 people, I guess. And uh Brother
23:32
Finey got up after um they sat down. He
23:35
said this. He said, "One of you is worth
23:37
that $4 million and more."
23:40
And I believe that.
23:43
So, let's pray what what God would have
23:45
us to do. You help me pray about that.
23:47
God, I I know we're going to do
23:49
something. I don't know what, but let's
23:50
pray. um God will give us leadership and
23:53
wisdom uh to help them. Um first phase
23:55
of that I think they said they were
23:57
trying to raise about 600,000 I think is
24:00
what they're trying to raise. And I know
24:02
that sounds like a lot but green that
24:04
that organization is worldwide and uh if
24:08
churches if every church that was
24:09
related to it probably pitched in um
24:12
$10,000 it would probably go above. I
24:14
mean just just how many churches are
24:16
affected by um that ministry. And so
24:19
just let's just pray for them. Pray
24:21
specifically for that ministry, for that
24:23
need, and then help me pray about what
24:25
the Lord would have us to do um for them
24:28
as far as that goes. All right? So
24:30
remember that. And then in with that in
24:32
mind, remember our missionaries. Pray
24:33
for them uh that God would bless and
24:36
help uh in every situation that they're
24:38
in or places that they serve. And I pray
24:40
that God would continue to bless the
24:42
giving. Amen. Is there any other request
24:44
of prayer tonight?
24:48
All right. All right, let's remember the
24:49
service tonight and pray that God would
24:50
help us and bless the Bible study and
24:53
the teachers as they teach this evening.
24:55
Let's remember each other. Let's pray
24:56
for the lost tonight and particularly
24:58
burden for some and I'm burdened for all
25:00
of them. Amen. There's some on my heart
25:02
uh tonight I'm burdened for and let's
25:04
pray for them and I would love to see
25:06
them get saved. And I'm pray for those.
25:08
It's grown cold and indifferent on the
25:10
Lord. And I tell you what, it's easy to
25:12
do. It's a whole lot easier. You know,
25:14
it's a natural thing for fire to go out.
25:17
If you don't put more fuel to it, you
25:18
know what it's going to do? It's gonna
25:19
go out. And this is the fuel on the
25:22
fire. And we need it. We need it in
25:23
these days. And so, let's pray for each
25:25
other and pray that God uh wouldn't help
25:27
us in these days. All right, let's pray
25:29
and ask the Lord to help us. Anything
25:31
else tonight?
25:34
All right, let's come pray tonight and
25:36
ask the Lord to bless our meeting this
25:38
evening.
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Father, thank you for this good day, for
26:11
your grace and your mercy, for allowing
26:13
us to be here tonight. God, I realize
26:15
we're undeserving, Father. Lord, are the
26:17
least of your mercies, but God, your
26:19
mercies are new every morning. And Lord,
26:21
in abundance, God, you said we're
26:23
sending abound. grace is much more
26:24
bound. And Lord, I'm thankful for that
26:26
fact today, God. We know, Lord, that you
26:29
have given all good things into our
26:31
hand. We bless your name for that. And
26:33
Lord, that every gift, every good gift,
26:34
and every perfect gift cometh from
26:36
above, Lord, from the Father of lights,
26:38
of whom is no variableness, neither
26:40
shadow of turning. And we praise you. We
26:42
exalt you tonight, Lord, for who you
26:44
are, for all that you've done, for all
26:46
that you're going to do. And we pray
26:48
your will would be done, God. your work,
26:50
Father, would be accomplished on this
26:52
earth just as it is in heaven, God, that
26:54
you would get glory and honor out of
26:55
everything that's said and done. God, I
26:57
pray tonight, Lord, as we come to you,
26:59
Father, and asking for your will to be
27:01
done. We know, Lord, that there are
27:03
souls who are lost. And God, I pray for
27:05
those maybe here tonight, Lord, maybe be
27:07
lost. God, I pray you deal their heart
27:09
and drawn to a place of conviction and
27:11
repentance. And God, they be saved. But
27:13
we pray for those maybe uh God, that
27:15
need a and stirring, Lord, need
27:17
encouragement, God, all of us do. And uh
27:19
Lord, I pray God they'd receive strength
27:21
and help from the word of God tonight. I
27:23
pray Lord for those God tonight that are
27:25
sick and afflicted. God, for those
27:27
health is not well, Lord, those that are
27:29
facing procedures, God, we pray that you
27:31
would touch their body, Lord. Many, God,
27:33
in our church are in pain, Father,
27:34
tonight. And Lord, yet they're still
27:36
here. And God, I pray you'd add a
27:38
special blessing to them tonight for
27:39
being here and being faithful, Lord. And
27:41
and God, I pray tonight, Father. Lord,
27:43
for the many other requests, God, you
27:45
know every need. God, we pray, Father,
27:47
for those that have lost loved ones,
27:48
God, that are not here tonight. Or we
27:50
pray for those, God, that have wavered
27:52
loved ones uh that are not here with us
27:54
tonight. We pray, God, that you would
27:55
wrap your loving arms around them. God,
27:58
remind them who they belong to. And
28:00
Lord, for those that are lost, God, I
28:01
pray uh Father God, that you would deal
28:03
with their heart, convict them of their
28:05
sin, draw them to a place of repentance.
28:07
God, may the word of God, Lord, come
28:08
clearly in their mind. God, they see you
28:11
for who you are and themselves for who
28:13
they are and be saved. God, I pray,
28:15
Lord, for the needs, God, that's been
28:17
mentioned tonight, Lord, for the
28:18
ministry needs. So, we pray for our
28:20
missionaries and the places that they
28:21
serve, God. Thankful, Lord, that you
28:23
allow us, Father, to support the mission
28:25
work, Father, and God, to finance the
28:27
faith, Lord, the producing uh Lord, the
28:30
propagating of the gospel uh throughout
28:32
this world. We thank you for that, I
28:34
pray you'd help us to give uh Lord, as
28:36
we've as we've never given before in
28:38
these days, Lord, because I know, God,
28:40
today we're nearer than we were
28:41
yesterday to your coming. And God, I
28:43
pray that you would give us wisdom and
28:45
obedience uh Lord to do what you've
28:47
called us to do in these days. God, I
28:49
ask you, Father, Lord, this evening,
28:51
God, that your will would be
28:52
accomplished once again. You'd get glory
28:54
and honor to yourself. And Lord, I pray
28:56
every heart would be touched by the word
28:57
of God tonight. Pray you'd speak to me
28:59
and speak through me and get all glory
29:01
to yourself and bless the teachers
29:03
tonight as they teach, God. And for
29:05
those that are not here this evening, we
29:07
pray you'd deal with them, Father. Lord,
29:09
whatever reason uh why God, we pray,
29:11
Lord, you bring them back, Father,
29:12
safely uh to the house of God again. And
29:15
Lord, I thank you, Father, once again
29:16
for this church, these precious people.
29:18
Lord, I love each one of them. And God,
29:20
I pray you'd add a blessing to them for
29:22
being faithful and being here in the
29:23
house of God tonight. And we love you.
29:25
Thank you for loving us. We ask you all
29:27
in Jesus name. Amen.
29:49
Appreciate that you man.
30:30
All right. Genesis chapter number 12.
30:37
Genesis chapter number 12 this evening.
30:41
Stand up.
30:54
Do appreciate your prayers for us in our
30:57
travels. Was able um this past week
30:59
there to be in that meeting there in
31:01
South Carolina. And uh somebody asked me
31:04
a while back about young preachers and
31:07
how many of them there are around and if
31:09
there are any of them left. And I was in
31:12
this meeting uh down there. I preached
31:15
with five other uh young preachers on
31:17
yesterday morning and uh preached 10
31:20
minutes a piece. And uh and then after I
31:22
got done, they asked all the young
31:24
preachers under the age of 25 to stand
31:26
up. And I guess there was probably about
31:27
25 or 30 of us. And uh uh somebody made
31:31
the statement. I believe it was brother
31:32
Finey saying he said, "You know, there's
31:34
a lot of days I wonder where God's
31:36
getting his preachers at, where they're
31:37
at, and the church is sitting empty
31:39
without pastors all across this land."
31:41
And he said, "I come to this meeting."
31:43
He said, "I'm reminded uh God's not done
31:45
with us yet." And I'm thankful for that.
31:48
And I enjoyed the great privilege there
31:50
being there with those men in that
31:52
meeting. I thank you uh church for
31:54
allowing us to go. It's a blessing. and
31:56
uh I appreciate all that you do for me
31:58
and my family. The Lord has been so good
32:00
to us. Genesis 12. I want to begin
32:02
reading in verse number one and we're
32:05
going to look not going to get out of
32:07
verse number two and three. I know we
32:08
kind of dealt with this on uh last time
32:11
just briefly, but there are some things
32:13
that I want to point out in this text um
32:15
if I could this evening and give you a
32:17
thought here uh out of this text
32:19
concerning the life of Abraham. And we
32:21
looked at him uh there on last week
32:23
concerning his beginning.
32:26
And tonight I want to deal with the
32:27
blessedness of Abraham. Um if I could
32:30
for just a little while out of this
32:32
text. And I notice in verse number one,
32:34
Genesis 12:1, the Bible says, "Now the
32:37
Lord had said unto Abram, get thee out
32:39
of thy country, and from thy kindred,
32:41
and from thy father's house unto a land
32:43
that I will show thee, and I will make
32:45
of thee a great nation, and I will bless
32:48
thee, and make thy name great, and thou
32:51
shalt be a blessing, and I will bless
32:53
them that curse thee, and curse him that
32:55
cursseeth thee, and in thee shall all
32:58
families of the earth be blessed."
33:02
Father, I ask you once more tonight that
33:04
you would help us. God, I realize,
33:06
Father, that I cannot do this myself and
33:08
I have nothing to say. Father, if you
33:10
don't speak through me. And so, God, I
33:12
pray you would help me this evening.
33:14
God, I pray for these precious people. I
33:16
pray you'd bless them tonight. And God,
33:17
I pray you'd help us to understand the
33:19
blessing, Father, that you spoke of in
33:21
this text, Lord, when you spoke to
33:22
Abraham that day. And God, how we enjoy
33:25
that same blessing. Lord, I pray you
33:27
would help us tonight get glory yourself
33:29
because we ask it in Jesus name. Amen.
33:32
In this text tonight, we did mention
33:34
here uh on last time the call of Abraham
33:38
uh in this text how that God had called
33:40
him out of the Caldes and he's called
33:43
him again uh or he's called him the call
33:46
never changed. Of course, Abram uh when
33:49
he left his his father Tara uh kept him
33:52
in Haran and when Tara died, Abram left
33:55
Haran. And the Bible says in verse
33:57
number one that the Lord had said unto
33:59
Abraham, "Get thee out of thy country."
34:01
Now, Abram in his partial obedience, he
34:04
was faithful to leave the country of his
34:06
nativity, but he did not leave his
34:08
kindred. The Bible says that God had
34:11
told him to leave his country and his
34:12
kindred. And we find that because he was
34:15
only partially obedient, he did not
34:17
enjoy the blessing from the Lord. And I
34:19
want to say this tonight to you. You
34:21
understand partial obedience is
34:23
disobedience. And we need to realize
34:26
tonight that if we're going to receive
34:27
the blessing from God that God has given
34:30
to each of us, we're going to have to
34:32
completely obey his word. And I know
34:34
that may be redundant from what I said
34:36
last time, but it's nonetheless true.
34:38
And the Bible says in verse number one,
34:41
he said, "It gets you out from thy
34:43
country, from thy kindred, and from thy
34:45
father's house unto a land that I will
34:48
show thee." And then he deals with the
34:49
promises. And we talked about the
34:52
comparison uh between or the contrast
34:54
rather between what Babel was doing in
34:57
chapter 11 when they were making those
35:00
brick and mortar trying to build the
35:02
city and the tower and trying to build
35:04
their religion and build their residence
35:06
and to make themselves a name. And we
35:09
made the statement on last time that God
35:11
gave every Abraham everything without
35:14
his any of his own works that Babel and
35:17
all of that city Nimrod was trying to
35:19
work. so hard for. And I'm thankful
35:21
tonight that God can do in a moment more
35:24
than we can in a lifetime of our works.
35:26
Amen. And they spent and wasted many
35:28
days trying to gain something that
35:30
ultimately God was going to take away
35:32
from them. But God blessed Abraham in
35:35
this text and allowed him to have uh the
35:38
everything that they could not have
35:40
because of their rebellion. And I notice
35:42
in this text, the Bible says in verse
35:44
number two, "And I will make of thee a
35:47
great nation." And notice this statement
35:48
here. God says, "And I will bless thee."
35:52
And I will bless thee. Now, I want to
35:54
talk to you tonight about the
35:56
blessedness of Abraham. Now, there's
35:59
many things that come to my mind when I
36:01
think about blessing. When I think about
36:03
blessedness in the scripture as a
36:06
description, there's a few different
36:08
passages that come to my mind. And I'll
36:10
give you these tonight and then I'll
36:12
give you the message and we'll be done.
36:13
But I I think about the blessed man
36:15
tonight. The first passage that comes to
36:17
my mind is Psalm 1 and verse number one.
36:21
And many of you probably know it by
36:22
heart, but turn there with me. You keep
36:24
your Bible handy tonight. And we're
36:26
going to be using them. Psalm 1. Listen
36:28
to what the psalmist repeats here in the
36:31
text. I encourage you to memorize this
36:33
if you don't. It's good uh strengthening
36:35
verses when you're dealing with
36:36
temptation. Listen to what he says here
36:38
in Psalm 1 and verse number one. What's
36:40
that first word, church? Blessed.
36:43
Blessed is the man that walketh not in
36:46
the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth
36:48
in the way of sinners, nor siteth in the
36:50
seat of the scornful, but his delight is
36:52
in the law of the Lord. And in his law
36:55
does he meditate day and night. And when
36:57
I think about this verse, when I think
36:59
about this text, really describing the
37:02
whole chapter here in the text, I think
37:04
the blessed man tonight is blessed
37:06
number one because of his character. And
37:09
I want to say this, character and
37:10
integrity we're lacking in this day more
37:12
than anything else. Men of character,
37:15
women of character, who when you were to
37:18
look at their life, you don't just look
37:19
at the outside, but if you could examine
37:22
their heart, their heart would say the
37:24
same thing that their life does. And
37:26
I'll tell you this, character is who you
37:28
are when nobody else is watching. You've
37:29
heard it said before. And if we were to
37:32
examine your life, if we were to examine
37:34
my life, I know we would all find holes
37:36
in every one of us. But we ought to
37:38
strive to be holy in the deepest part of
37:41
our character because really that's
37:43
where it counts. Amen. God does not look
37:45
on the outward appearance, but as Samuel
37:48
said, he lookth on the heart. He doesn't
37:50
view our stature. He doesn't view our
37:52
standing, but he views the submission of
37:54
our heart to his word. And with that,
37:57
second of all, I want to say this. The
37:58
blessed man not only has to do with
38:01
character, but it has to do with the
38:03
commandments. And I'm reminded of what
38:05
Moses said. Deuteronomy 28.
38:08
Listen to what Moses says. He's
38:10
reminding the children of Israel here in
38:12
the text concerning the law of God. Now
38:14
listen to what he says in Deuteronomy
38:16
28:es 1 down through verse 6. He says,
38:19
"And it shall come to pass if thou shalt
38:22
hearken diligently unto the voice of the
38:24
Lord thy God to observe and to do all
38:26
his commandments which I command thee
38:28
this day that the Lord thy God will set
38:31
thee on high above all nations of the
38:33
earth. And all these blessings, notice
38:35
that, shall come on thee and overtake
38:37
thee, if thou shalt hearken, notice that
38:40
again, unto the voice of the Lord thy
38:42
God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city.
38:44
Blessed shalt thou be in the field.
38:46
Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body,
38:48
and the fruit of thy ground, and the
38:51
fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy
38:53
kind, and the flocks of thy sheep.
38:55
Blessed shall be thy basket, and thy
38:58
store. Notice this in verse six. Blessed
39:00
shalt thou be when thou comest in, and
39:03
blessed shalt thou be when thou goest
39:06
out. Now, I know that's a positional
39:08
promise to the children of Israel, and
39:10
it's a prosperity promise to the
39:12
children of Israel, but the application
39:14
is nonetheless the same. When you are
39:16
faithful to obey the commandments of
39:18
God, God says there's a blessing that'll
39:20
follow that. Amen. And the reason why
39:23
people don't know blessings is they
39:25
don't they don't keep the commandments.
39:26
Amen. If we keep the commandments,
39:28
blessedness is promised to come our way.
39:32
And then I think about this and and
39:34
really this is where I tie it in to the
39:36
life of Abraham, but I think about this.
39:38
The blessed man doesn't only have to do
39:40
with his character and with following
39:43
the commandments of God, but it has to
39:45
do with his children. And listen to what
39:47
the Bible says in Psalm 127:5. And like
39:50
I said, these are just a few
39:52
cherrypicked verses that I thought about
39:55
when I think about blessing. Psalm 127
39:58
and verse number five. Listen to what
40:00
the psalmist says here in the text.
40:02
Verse number or verse number three.
40:04
Notice this. Psalm 127 verse number
40:06
three. Lo children are inherited of the
40:09
Lord. And the fruit of the womb is his
40:12
reward. As arrows are in the hand of a
40:15
mighty man, so are children of the
40:17
youth. Verse five, happy. That word
40:19
happy literally translates to the word
40:21
blessed. Happy is the man that hath his
40:24
quiver full of them. They shall not be
40:26
ashamed, but they shall speak with the
40:29
enemies in the gate. Now you say,
40:32
preacher, what does that have to do with
40:34
Abraham? Well, the Bible says in verse
40:37
number two of Genesis chapter number 12,
40:39
he says, I will make of thee a great
40:42
nation. Now, he's not just talking about
40:44
a land. He's not talking about a
40:46
government, but he is talking about a
40:48
seed. He is talking about a son. He is
40:52
talking about a savior and that nation
40:54
that would be derived out of the loins
40:57
of Abraham that represents the blessed
41:00
man's children. And you think about the
41:02
song that we sing in in children's class
41:05
growing up. Father Abraham had many sons
41:08
and many sons had father Abraham. How
41:10
does it go? I'm one of them and so are
41:12
you. Amen. And that comes by not the the
41:15
lineage of his of his children in the
41:18
sense of Israel but in the sense of him
41:20
being the father of the faith. We are
41:22
his children. And so I notice in this
41:25
text the blessed man. We we pointed out
41:27
the character the commandments and his
41:30
children. Notice what the Bible says
41:32
about Abraham here in this text. You
41:34
find this word bless here in this text
41:36
several times. I believe it's about six
41:38
times that it's mentioned in this text
41:41
in some form or fashion. Let's read it
41:43
again. Notice there in verse two, God
41:45
said, "And I will make of thee a great
41:47
nation, and I will bless thee, and make
41:50
thy name great, and thou shalt be a
41:52
blessing, and I will bless them that
41:54
bless thee, and curse him that cursseeth
41:57
thee, and in thee shall all families of
42:00
the earth be blessed." Now I want to
42:03
give you four things tonight describing
42:05
the blessedness of Abraham in this text
42:08
and really this is describing the
42:10
blessedness of each of us. If you know
42:12
the Lord tonight these are the blessings
42:15
that you know as his children. So I
42:18
would say first of all tonight what we
42:19
discover in this text is is there is a
42:23
rendered blessing. Notice what the Bible
42:25
says in verse two. And I will make of
42:27
thee a great nation. Notice the phrase,
42:30
"And I will bless thee." Now, who's
42:34
speaking in the text? Somebody tell me.
42:38
>> God speaking, right? And so, this
42:41
blessing rendered here in the text, it
42:43
is revealed that God himself by his own
42:46
will and in his own work is going to
42:49
bless Abraham. Notice that I will bless
42:52
thee. God has decided in his divine will
42:56
to bless Abram in this text. Now, we
43:00
know uh later on his name would be
43:02
changed to describe his ownership to
43:05
God. But I'll say this, this rendered
43:07
blessing tonight is the same evidence
43:09
that's in our life. You understand
43:11
salvation tonight when we get saved, we
43:13
come to the Lord and repent and faith
43:16
and we trust him as our savior. But
43:18
salvation is the gift of God. Ain't that
43:21
what the Bible says? And it is that
43:23
rendered blessing that each of you and I
43:25
possess. What did what did Paul tell the
43:27
church at Ephesus? He said, "For by
43:29
grace are you saved through faith and
43:31
that not of yourselves. It's the gift of
43:33
God, not of works, lest any man should
43:35
boast." And so the blessedness that you
43:37
and I have tonight, or let me put it
43:39
this way, the first blessing that you
43:41
will know as a as a human being will be
43:45
a rendered blessing. It'll be a blessing
43:47
that's imparted unto you. It's a
43:49
blessing that's imputed unto you. And
43:51
what is that? That is the righteousness
43:53
of Christ that's imputed into who we
43:56
are. I'm reminded of what Paul said
43:58
Romans chapter 4. I encourage you to
44:00
write this in your margin. Paul was
44:03
describing in Romans 4, the faith of
44:06
Abraham. And he had this to say
44:08
concerning what blessedness really is.
44:11
Listen to this. In Romans 4 and verse
44:13
number six, the Bible says, "Even as
44:15
David also describeth the blessedness of
44:20
the man." Notice that even as David also
44:23
describeth the blessedness, supreme
44:26
happiness of the man, unto whom God
44:29
imputth what? Righteousness
44:33
without works. The blessedness of this
44:36
salvation that we are offered is that
44:38
forgiveness has been given on terms of
44:40
the blood and because of that
44:42
righteousness is imputed without works.
44:46
It was a rendered blessing. Verse 7
44:49
saying, "Blessed are they whose
44:51
iniquities are forgiven and whose sins
44:54
are covered." Cited from Psalm 32 verse
44:57
number one and two verse 8. Blessed is
45:00
the man to whom the Lord will not impute
45:04
sin. And so that is telling us that the
45:06
first blessing that we receive will be a
45:09
blessing that is given that is placed
45:11
upon our account. And I'll say this
45:14
tonight, if you don't know that
45:15
blessing, you don't know any other
45:16
blessing.
45:18
>> Amen. You say, "Preacher, well, I'm
45:20
alive, but you're not really living."
45:21
Amen. I like that old song Danny
45:23
Thunderberg sang with the cathedrals. He
45:25
said, "I just started living." Amen.
45:27
He'd been living long before he got
45:29
saved. But he said, "I just started
45:31
living. I got me a brand new life." You
45:33
know what that is? That's salvation.
45:35
>> That's a rendered blessing. Amen. I'm
45:37
saying God has been good. Boy, I tell
45:39
you what, that feels good, don't it?
45:40
Amen. God has given us a blessing that
45:44
we otherwise could never attain in and
45:46
of oursel. And so, his blessedness is
45:49
rendered in this text. Now notice not
45:51
only there is the rendering of
45:54
blessedness to Abraham but there is a
45:56
righteous blessing that is mentioned in
45:58
the text. The Bible says in verse two
46:00
God said I will make of thee a great
46:02
nation. I will bless thee and make thy
46:04
name great. And then notice this phrase
46:07
and thou shalt be a blessing. What I'm
46:10
interested in in this text is God has
46:12
said from this point he says I will
46:14
notice that I will make of thee a great
46:16
nation. I will bless thee. I will make
46:19
thy name great. But then he gets to the
46:21
end of this text and says, after
46:23
everything that I do for you, Abraham,
46:25
Abram, this is what you're going to be.
46:28
Notice this, thou shalt be a blessing.
46:32
Who we are tonight is directly in
46:35
correlation to what God has done for us.
46:38
You realize that we have nothing of
46:40
ourselves. And so when God says, "Thou
46:42
shalt be a blessing," what does that
46:44
mean? Well, it's talking about that word
46:46
blessing is a different word in the
46:49
Hebrew that's used from the word bless
46:50
and blessing that's used in the other
46:53
verses of this text. And it literally
46:55
means a benediction. It literally means
46:57
a pronounced blessing that Abraham
47:00
himself, Abram himself would be a
47:03
blessing to the world. You say, "How is
47:06
that?" Well, let's just let's just
47:08
examine this for a minute, okay? Abram
47:11
is the father when we think of the
47:12
physical sense of what the nation of
47:14
Israel in Isaac shall thy seed be
47:18
called. And why did God call Abraham out
47:20
of the earth? The Caldes. That little
47:23
phrase in verse number two hinges all
47:26
the doctrine that we believe about
47:28
missionary work in all of scripture.
47:30
When God said, "Thou shalt be a
47:32
blessing," he was referring to the fact
47:34
that God would introduce himself to the
47:38
rest of the world by Abraham.
47:41
God would give this man a blessing.
47:46
Notice it again. Notice it again in the
47:48
text. I will bless thee. And then what
47:50
does he say? And thou shalt be a
47:52
blessing. Abram is the channel through
47:55
which all of God's blessing would flow
47:58
through from this day forward all the
48:00
way through the rest of history. Do you
48:02
realize that in the church of God, what
48:04
we are doing here tonight, we are a part
48:06
of the channel that has flowed through
48:08
Abraham.
48:09
>> In Adam, there was failure. In Noah,
48:12
there was failure. But in Abram, you
48:15
know what happened out of his seed? He's
48:17
the father of what? The faith. And so
48:20
out of him he is the blessing of the
48:23
world. And what is that blessing? It is
48:25
that righteousness. Remember this. All
48:27
right. God said, "I will bless thee." We
48:29
talked about what he said there in
48:30
Romans. How that the blessed man is the
48:33
man whose sins were forgiven, whose
48:35
iniquities are covered. And out of that,
48:37
you know what we do? We are the ones
48:39
that introduce that blessing to the
48:42
world. You know how the world gets the
48:44
gospel? It's preaching, isn't it?
48:46
>> Right? Abram is the one that God
48:49
entrusted. You see, here's the reason
48:51
why, and this is where we divide with
48:53
those that say salvation is only by
48:56
grace through faith. In the New
48:57
Testament church, salvation has never
49:00
been apart from grace and faith.
49:04
>> All the way to the very beginning, man
49:07
had to believe God and trust his word.
49:10
And it's by grace alone through faith
49:12
alone in the finished work of Christ.
49:15
You say, "Preacher, how is it that Abram
49:18
could believe? How is it that Abram
49:20
could believe that Jesus had to die for
49:22
his sin?" You remember what Jesus said?
49:24
Those those Pharisees came to him and
49:26
said, "You know, we have Abraham to our
49:28
father." And Jesus rebukes them. He
49:30
said, "If you were Abram's children, the
49:32
works of Abraham you would do." You
49:34
remember him saying that? You can look
49:35
in John's gospel chapter 8 and Jesus
49:38
said this about Abraham. He said,
49:40
"Abraham saw my day and was glad. He
49:45
rejoiced. What was that? God promised
49:47
him a seed. I'm getting ahead of myself
49:48
here, but God promised Abram a seed. And
49:52
when God promised Abraham a seed, you
49:54
know, he was looking at Isaac, but
49:56
farther than that, it was a lot farther
49:58
than just Isaac. It was a lot farther
50:01
than just Jacob. It was a lot farther
50:04
than just Judah and the rest of the line
50:06
through which Christ would come. He was
50:08
looking to the Messiah. And when God
50:10
promised Abram a seed, he wasn't just
50:13
looking at a seed. He wasn't just
50:14
looking at a son, but he saw the savior
50:17
and Abraham would be his father and out
50:21
of him righteousness would proceed from
50:23
God into this world. And the Bible says,
50:26
"Thou shalt be a blessing and the
50:28
knowledge of God in the world comes by
50:30
Abraham."
50:32
You say, "How is that?" Well, do you
50:34
understand that all the rest of the
50:35
world had turned on God?
50:38
What did we just talk about in chapter
50:40
11? All of those children, they had all
50:42
joined together. The Bible says in verse
50:44
one of chapter 11, the whole earth was
50:46
of one language and of one speech. And
50:48
the Bible says, "And it came to pass as
50:50
they, the world is united together in
50:53
wickedness and out of an entire world
50:57
that's united in wickedness and sin."
50:59
God takes one man by the name of Abram
51:02
and calls him out of that wickedness.
51:04
And what does he do? He puts his name on
51:06
him. He puts his brand on him. What is
51:09
that? It's his righteousness. And
51:11
because Abraham, God blessed him, GOD
51:15
SAID,"ABRAM, YOU'RE GOING TO BE A
51:16
BLESSING." You know, the reason why
51:19
there's some people that profess to be
51:21
saved and they never accomplish anything
51:23
in the Christian life, the reason I
51:25
struggle with their salvation is because
51:27
they've never been a blessing.
51:30
>> If you have been blessed, you will be a
51:34
blessing.
51:35
>> Amen. If you have been given, Amen. If
51:38
you have received, you are to give. And
51:42
so this blessing, this righteousness
51:44
that's imputed, Abram would reveal. He
51:47
would be the father of the missionary
51:49
nation. Israel was supposed to bring the
51:51
gospel to the rest of the world. But
51:54
Israel failed. And so because of that,
51:57
they rejected the Messiah. And what did
51:59
Jesus do? He turned his ministry to the
52:02
Gentiles.
52:04
And he would be a light not only to
52:05
lighten Israel but the Gentiles as well.
52:08
And that's why Paul said in Romans 1, he
52:10
said, "I'm not ashamed of the gospel of
52:11
Christ, for it's the power of God under
52:14
salvation to everyone
52:16
>> that believeth to the Jew first and also
52:19
to the Greek." And so it is this
52:22
blessingness. It is a righteous
52:24
blessing. And you say, "Preacher, what
52:26
does that have to do with
52:26
righteousness?" Well, you understand the
52:28
only way that Abram could be a blessing
52:31
is if he lived in what God had endued
52:33
him with. God had blessed him with
52:37
righteousness on his account. God
52:39
imputed righteousness to him. Genesis
52:41
15:6. And Abraham believed God and it
52:44
was counted unto him for righteousness.
52:47
But the only time people saw that in his
52:49
life was when he chose to live it. And
52:52
Abraham failed many times. We know that.
52:55
We know that Ishmael was born out of a
52:57
failure of Abraham. But what I'm saying
52:58
is out of his seed would be the blessing
53:01
and his righteous life would manifest
53:04
the blessing of knowing God to the rest
53:07
of the world. Notice not only this
53:09
moving quickly tonight, we see this
53:11
blessedness is rendered. We see the
53:13
blessedness of his righteousness. How
53:16
that he would share that with the world
53:18
from this text. Notice thirdly, I see
53:21
not only the right, the rendered
53:23
blessing and the righteous blessing, but
53:24
I see there's a reciprocal blessing in
53:26
the text. Notice verse three. And I will
53:29
bless them that bless thee and curse him
53:32
that cursseeth thee. You see, this is
53:34
where God sets Abram apart. God has draw
53:38
him out of the Caldes. He's brought him
53:40
away from his family. And God says,
53:42
"Look, I'm going to bless you. You're
53:44
going to be a blessing." And he said,
53:46
"Because of that blessing that's upon
53:48
you, I'm going to set a wall in between
53:50
you and the world." You say, "How does
53:53
that relate to us, preacher?" Well, you
53:55
remember what Jesus prayed in the Gospel
53:57
of John? He he was praying there and the
53:59
Bible says in that great prayer he
54:01
prayed unto the Lord. He said, "Father,
54:03
I don't want you to take them out of the
54:04
world." He said, "But you just put them
54:07
in the world and keep the world out of
54:08
them." In essence, is what he said. You
54:10
know what God was saying to Abraham in
54:12
this text? He's saying, 'Look, those
54:14
that bless you and follow what you give,
54:17
I'll bless them. He said, 'But those
54:19
that reject you, he said, I'll reject
54:22
them. You remember what Jesus said in
54:25
the New Testament? He said, "Those that
54:26
receive me, they receive my father.
54:29
Those that reject me, they reject my
54:31
father." And so, the truth is tonight,
54:33
the same application applies in this
54:36
text. this reciprocated blessing is that
54:39
God would bless those who would follow
54:41
in obedience to Abraham because he is
54:44
the one that blessing was placed upon.
54:47
You know, I think about this. You say,
54:49
"Preacher, well, does that follow in
54:51
this day and time when people reject
54:53
us?" Well, you just remember we got to
54:55
remember who our king is,
54:58
>> right?
54:58
>> Jesus is king. And what was he king of?
55:01
He was king of rejection, wasn't he?
55:03
Everybody rejected him. Everybody walked
55:06
away from him. And what did he do for
55:08
all of those people? He said, "Father,
55:10
forgive them." You know, I don't think
55:11
that that was just at the cross. I don't
55:14
think that was just looking into our
55:15
day. But I think Jesus when he was on
55:17
that cross, he looked back at everybody
55:19
who had done him wrong through his
55:21
entire life and said, "Father, forgive
55:23
them."
55:23
>> Amen.
55:24
>> Because he was dying for all their sins,
55:25
all the past sins, all the present sins,
55:27
and all the future sins.
55:29
>> And God said, "Forgive them."
55:31
>> Jesus said, "Forgive them." So what are
55:33
we to do? Jesus Peter said, "How often I
55:35
to forgive my brother?" "Seven times."
55:38
Jesus said to him, "Seven times." 70.
55:40
Now, we know that's a number. But what
55:43
was Jesus expressing? He was saying,
55:45
"Forgive him as many times as it takes."
55:47
>> And so, the truth is in this text,
55:49
blessedness and cursedness in this text
55:52
is not ours to to determine. You say,
55:55
"How is that?" Well, you just remember
55:57
when death takes place and the Bible
55:59
says to be absent from the body is to be
56:01
present with the Lord for those who are
56:02
saved. And so that is blessedness. But
56:04
you understand those that die without
56:06
God, what do they do? They go to a place
56:08
of eternal what? Judgment.
56:11
And so it's not us up to us to determine
56:13
who's blessed and who's cursed.
56:16
What did what did God say? He said,
56:17
"I'll bless them."
56:20
You know, I think sometimes we get it
56:21
wrong and and we're kind of like this.
56:23
Well, God said we ought to bless them
56:25
that bless us.
56:27
Curse them that curse us. But that ain't
56:29
what Jesus said in Matthew 5, is it? He
56:31
said, "I send you love your enemies.
56:33
>> Do good to them that hate you and them
56:36
that persecute you." He said, he said,
56:37
"Blessed are ye when men shall revile
56:40
you and persecute you and say all manner
56:42
of of a against you because of my name."
56:45
He said, "Great is your reward in
56:47
heaven." And so this reciprocal blessing
56:49
comes down to one thing. It reveals to
56:51
us the sovereignty of God. That God is
56:53
in control. God would bless those who
56:55
blessed Abram. We see that through his
56:57
entire life. those that were that
56:59
followed him, those that supported him
57:02
in his endeavor into the land of Canaan,
57:04
they were blessed by God. But you
57:05
remember every time that Abram steps out
57:07
of the will of God and does something
57:09
that maybe he shouldn't have or those
57:11
trying to do something against Abram
57:12
that they shouldn't have, you realize
57:14
God cursed them. Sodom and Gomorrah was
57:18
burned alive in spite of the prayers of
57:20
God, prayers of Abraham for them. But
57:22
you know who was saved out of that
57:24
thing? Lot was. So, you know what? God
57:28
responded by the blessing of Abraham in
57:31
his life. So much I could say. I'm
57:32
trying not to get ahead of myself in
57:34
this because I want to preach through
57:35
his life. But I want to give you this
57:37
and I'll be done tonight.
57:39
We've considered the rendered blessing,
57:41
the righteous blessing, this reciprocal
57:43
blessing. He would bless those that
57:47
bless him. And let me say this tonight.
57:49
I believe that still stands.
57:52
I'm not an anti-semit.
57:56
I don't believe that. And let me say
57:58
this to you. Anybody that would spread
58:00
that to you, they want you to go to
58:01
hell.
58:03
>> They want you to be destroyed. Because
58:05
here's the thing about it. God said his
58:07
promise would stand with Israel. That's
58:09
>> right.
58:10
>> Paul said it this way in Romans. He
58:11
said, "God's not cast away his people,
58:14
>> which he forneew."
58:16
>> And so that blessing still stands. I
58:18
believe that with all of my heart.
58:20
Notice this and I'll be done. We've
58:22
mentioned here the missionary state of
58:25
Abram here and it's pointed out again.
58:27
It's reiterated in verse three. He said,
58:29
'I bless them, bless thee, curse him
58:31
that cursth thee, and in thee shall all
58:33
families of the earth be blessed.' Now,
58:35
you've heard me say this this this
58:37
three-fold truth tonight that when God
58:39
promised Abraham a nation, he promised
58:41
him a seed, he promised him a son, he
58:44
promised a savior, and where you see
58:47
that in those two little words in verse
58:48
three, notice that. and in thee. You
58:52
see, it was in the loins of Abraham that
58:54
God would raise up salvation. Now, we
58:57
know that that you know, we when we
58:59
think about Christ, of course, he was
59:00
not he did not have an earthly father.
59:03
We realize that. But Mary, his mother,
59:05
came through this same earthly line. She
59:08
proceeded out of that same family. Not
59:10
got time to deal with all of that. But
59:12
the truth is in this text, what that
59:14
reveals is the realm of blessedness.
59:17
And you say, "What does that mean?"
59:18
Well, God says, "In thee," notice that,
59:21
"in thee shall all families of the earth
59:24
be blessed." And so, when I think about
59:26
that, you know what? That's total.
59:29
>> That that that has to do with every
59:31
race. That has to do with every place.
59:34
Has to do with every person, all
59:36
families. So, what was he saying? He he
59:39
couldn't have just been talking about
59:41
his own personal blessing that Abram
59:43
would reign over the world. He couldn't
59:45
have just been talking about Isaac, that
59:47
one son, because Ishmael was rejected by
59:50
God. He couldn't have just been talking
59:53
about Isaac. He could not have just been
59:55
talking about Jacob because these are
59:57
all singular children.
1:00:00
But what would be the one individual
1:00:03
that in history blessedness would
1:00:06
proceed from one moment in time
1:00:07
throughout all the past?
1:00:09
>> Jesus.
1:00:10
>> To all the future. It has to refer to
1:00:13
Christ. And when he says in these shall
1:00:16
all families of the earth be blessed, he
1:00:19
was revealing the fact that the realm of
1:00:21
blessing is to all the world. You say,
1:00:23
"Where does that come from me preacher?
1:00:25
I can't bless the whole world, but you
1:00:27
know what? By being saved, you know what
1:00:29
you are? You're a blessing to the whole
1:00:31
world. The salvation that's in you, you
1:00:34
understand, we may not affect the whole
1:00:36
world directly, but because of salvation
1:00:39
that's in our heart, we are
1:00:40
represented." Paul said it this way. He
1:00:41
said, "We are ambassadors for Christ.
1:00:44
Do we have the potential to reach the
1:00:46
whole world? I believe that. Amen. That
1:00:49
potential is there. But I understand the
1:00:51
great amount of mount, the great
1:00:53
mountain that would stand before us in
1:00:55
evangelism in order to do that. But see,
1:00:57
that's not the principle. It's what
1:00:59
lives inside of us that's the blessing.
1:01:02
>> And as long as there's a Christian on
1:01:03
this earth, you know what else is here?
1:01:05
There's somebody who's controlled by the
1:01:06
Holy Ghost of God. And out of that we
1:01:10
are a blessing to the whole society that
1:01:15
exists. He said Abraham he said in thee
1:01:17
shall all families of the earth be
1:01:19
blessed. It is the promise that God has
1:01:23
given unto him. The realm of blessing
1:01:24
extends to all families. You know I
1:01:28
think we we've missed in this day and
1:01:30
time and I I've been guilty of this. you
1:01:33
know, my dreams are too small when it
1:01:36
comes to reaching the world with the
1:01:38
gospel. Because the truth is there's
1:01:42
billions, we know there's billions of
1:01:44
souls on this earth, but I'm I'm
1:01:46
convinced I'm convinced of this fact
1:01:49
that if we will desire to be a blessing
1:01:52
to all, God will desire let us be a
1:01:55
blessing to more than we ever could
1:01:56
have. If we will make our desire to be a
1:02:00
blessing to all. You know, I think, you
1:02:03
know, it goes back to this same
1:02:04
principle people talk about. Well,
1:02:06
preacher, I can't be perfect.
1:02:09
But you know what? Here's the difference
1:02:10
between those who are close to God and
1:02:12
those who are away from God. Those who
1:02:15
are away from God, they realize that
1:02:16
they can't be perfect. And because of
1:02:18
that, they quit. But those who are close
1:02:20
to God, you know what they do? They look
1:02:22
at the standard and say, "By the God's
1:02:24
grace, I want to get there." Paul said,
1:02:26
'I count not myself to apprehend.' He
1:02:28
said, ' But this one thing I do. He
1:02:30
said, I'm pressing toward the mark for
1:02:32
the prize of the high calling of God in
1:02:34
Christ Jesus. What was that? That was
1:02:36
perfection. That was completeness.
1:02:38
At the end of his life, he was able to
1:02:40
say, "I've fought a good fight. I've
1:02:41
finished my course." And so this
1:02:44
blessedness, this realm of blessedness,
1:02:46
we ought to desire to reach out more
1:02:48
than we think is possible. Because God
1:02:51
told Abram before he ever even made it
1:02:53
into Canaan's land. Notice verse four.
1:02:55
So Abram departed. Before he ever made
1:02:59
it into Canaan land, God's already told
1:03:00
him, "Look, you're going you're going to
1:03:02
bless the whole earth."
1:03:04
You know what? We don't know what
1:03:05
tomorrow holds. We ought to say, "Lord,
1:03:08
I know what you've invested in me is
1:03:10
able. You understand the spirit of God
1:03:12
and use the same spirit of God that was
1:03:14
in Billy Graham."
1:03:15
>> Right?
1:03:15
>> Amen. And I know he wasn't perfect, but
1:03:18
I'm talking about all these great men of
1:03:19
God of days gone by. Jay Harold Smith
1:03:22
and Harold Sitler and Bobby Robertson
1:03:24
and all those guys. The same spirit of
1:03:25
God that was in them is in you.
1:03:27
>> Right?
1:03:28
>> And we have the opportunity.
1:03:30
It's there to reach the whole world and
1:03:33
be a blessing to the entirety of this
1:03:37
world. But I'll say this. I want to
1:03:38
remind you that being saved and living
1:03:41
for God is the blessing that this world
1:03:44
needs. Because you know what's going to
1:03:46
happen when the church is removed? The
1:03:48
influence of the spirit of God inside of
1:03:50
human hearts will be removed. And so
1:03:53
because of that, there will only be an
1:03:55
exterior influence of the spirit of God.
1:03:58
And you know, I I struggle with this
1:04:00
sometimes. I'll say this and I'm done. I
1:04:02
I don't really know whether or not after
1:04:05
the rapture takes place that men and
1:04:08
women who get saved after the rapture, I
1:04:10
don't know that they will be indwelt by
1:04:12
the spirit of God. I'm not sure about
1:04:14
that. But I do know this. All those who
1:04:17
will be saved after the rapture will
1:04:19
first of all have never had an
1:04:21
opportunity to be saved before the
1:04:22
rapture.
1:04:24
But after the rapture, they'll be saved
1:04:25
by grace through faith the same way. But
1:04:28
I don't know that they'll have that
1:04:30
indwelling presence of God. And here's
1:04:31
the reason why I say that. Because it's
1:04:34
going to go back to the days of the law.
1:04:36
And in the days of the law, you know
1:04:37
what happened? The spirit of God came on
1:04:39
men. It came on men for a time, but it
1:04:42
didn't live in men. You see, we have the
1:04:44
unadulterated presence of God in our
1:04:46
life and we control how much he affects
1:04:49
us. It's not that we need more of the
1:04:51
Holy Ghost. It's that he needs more of
1:04:52
us. That's right.
1:04:54
>> And so when I say to you the influence
1:04:56
when the rapture takes place, that
1:04:58
influence is going to be removed. It's
1:04:59
going to realize just how big the world
1:05:01
is going to realize just how big of a
1:05:03
blessing the church was to society when
1:05:06
we're taken out of here. Because you
1:05:08
don't understand, all chaos is going to
1:05:10
be unleashed. And we are a blessing,
1:05:13
God. We're his seed. We're Abram's seed.
1:05:15
We're God's seed. We're his children.
1:05:17
And we're called to be a blessing. And u
1:05:20
I hope I hope that's a help to you
1:05:22
tonight. Father, thank you for this
1:05:24
time, Lord. Help us to be a blessing,
1:05:26
Lord. You've blessed us so much. And
1:05:29
God, it's not things. It's not stuff,
1:05:31
Lord. And we've got so much stuff, Lord.
1:05:33
But I know that that's not that's not
1:05:35
what blessing is. God, you have given us
1:05:38
your spirit, Lord. the third person of
1:05:41
the Trinity lives in our heart. And
1:05:43
Lord, there is no greater blessedness,
1:05:45
Lord, than knowing that we're saved,
1:05:47
forgiven of our sin. And Lord, you have
1:05:49
called us to inherit a blessing. But
1:05:51
Lord, you've called us to be a blessing
1:05:54
to this world. Lord, help us to be that
1:05:56
blessing that you've called us to be.
1:05:58
Lord, I love you. Thank you for loving
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us. I want to pray watch over us as we
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go home tonight. Pray for all the needs
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that's been mentioned this evening.
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Bless and help in every situation. We
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thank you for what you've done, what
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you're going to do. We ask it in Jesus
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name. Amen. I appreciate
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>> Thank you for joining our service today.
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We'd love it if you'd join us in person
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the next time you are able at Meadows
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Baptist Church. Our physical address is
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2988 Stewart Road in Walnut Cove, North
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Carolina. Our service times are Sunday
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school at 10:00 a.m., Sunday morning
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worship at 11:00 a.m., Sunday evening
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worship at 6:00 p.m., and Wednesday
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evening Bible study at 700 p.m. For more
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information, visit us at
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meadowsbaptisturch.com.
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Thanks again for tuning in.