Sunday Evening Worship Service

you can be seated across this house thank you choir praise team musicians for just ushering us into the presence of of almighty God I I don't know about you every time we enter into his house it's special but it seems like just tonight every single song every word that's been spoken just has just meshed right to right together and I'm I'm just so grateful to be in his presence I standall before you unworthy tonight to speak his word but I I'm grateful for the opportunity and if you will Overlook the inadequate inadequacies of the speaker and as we go into his word I I think he has just something special special for us each and every one of us lie at different Crossroads in our life different decisions that we have to make dealing and battling with with different very different things things that you know we can't even under we can't truly even understand about each each other but there is one person who's experienced it all there's there's one person who's gone through what you are currently going through and it's and and I magnify my office but it's it's not a preacher or a pastor but it's it's Jesus only one person's conquered the conquered death and that's that's Jesus and that's who we have hope in tonight so as we as we go into his word I I know that if you'll open your hearts to it I believe he has something special for you tonight if you would stand for the reading of God's word I have one verse of scripture a verse of scripture that uh if you grew up in Sunday school it's probably one of the one of the first ones you learned or if you were in AKA it's one of the ones that you would sing out and chapel and say praise the Lord afterwards Psalm 11915 it says Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path I want to ask this question as a title tonight what does walking by faith look like could you put your Bibles down for a moment and could you just lift your hands and voices and let's let's ask our hearts to be open to what God has for us this evening mighty God we thank you Lord I Thank you to be in your house I thank you for every individual that is that is here tonight and both watching online Lord together we open our hearts and we open our minds to your word that we put it into practice for us Lord we we know that your word is is our our nutrition it's it's what gets us from from day to day Lord I Thank you tonight for the mighty saints of God the women and men of God in this house that are the the examples to all of us the the walking talking testimonies the sermons before us Lord that we that we fulfill what you would have us to do on this Earth Lord we thank you and we praise you could you give him one more hand clap of praise and you can be seated across this house this first Sunday of the new year and what a tremendous word we heard uh this morning but in Knoxville on December the 31st 2023 at 5:31 p.m. the sun set and uh Darkness Came Upon Us and then on January 1st in Knoxville 2024 at 5:32 p.m. the sun set once again a minute later this time on November four 5th as the daylight savings time took place our days and as we stepped into winter they have gotten shorter and for this we spend a lot more time driving at night at times it feels as if we are always driving at night and some of you with newborns and toddlers and you're on that you know that specific sleep schedule when you transition out of the the summer months where it's daylight till 8:30 and 9:00 p.m. and you have that set deadline when the days get shorter and the the sun sets sooner it's like hey you're going to bed about two or three hours early tonight it it feels like it's time to go to bed I was talking on our me and my wife were talking on our way back home from Louisiana and there in shreport at Central Time and uh many of you that uh maybe attended National youth convention in Nashville uh it's really close Nashville is to the central time zone and and in that opland hotel you know it's that huge just type of Atrium and it feels like it's it starts getting dark and it does about 4:15 or 4:30 and this time of year it just feels like you're always just kind of in the dark and I was talking my wife on our way home and she uh mentioned uh when she was an ER nurse that some of the shifts that she would be on and those consecutive amount of times and all of you in the medical field you know all those lingo y'all start talking about these different shifts and stuff and I I started try to start looking uh looking that up but she would go to work and it was dark and she would drive home and it was dark and I know many of you ac across this house uh deal with the same thing every day and at this time of year it just seems like you're always just kind of maneuvering and always uh driving specifically for our illustration in the dark and darkness even in the morning or the night is the most dangerous time to find yourself behind the wheel it can manipulate one's depth perception it the the color recognition of Steins you know for that red meaning stop or yield it it can even affect your peripheral vision all of these things are compromised at night and we all know it just takes a split second for a traffic accident to happen and fortunately for driving at night our vehicles have headlights your highbeam headlights go from about 300 to 50 to 400 ft ahead and on behalf of everyone that drives with your brights on all all the time thank you so much for just leaving those on when we're when we're when you're passing just giving us that extra uh illumination and your low beam lights range for about 200 feet in the darkness the point being that one is capable of being able to see to a specific point in the dark but the distance is limited however with every second of forward MO I one is able to continue to see just a little bit further and this same principle can be applied to our key verse your word Lord is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path that question asked tonight what does walking by faith look like in the darkness of night with the lamp in in my hand each step forward allows me to illuminate the subsequent step I can only see h a certain distance away but with each step that I take the path becomes aluminated my next step becomes illuminated that much more but in these times I'm unable to see the end goal and my vision is impaired to the extent of how much further my destination is I I don't know how long it's going to take to get to that end goal but I know if I have trust in his word if I will continue forward if I will take a step forward though my vision is impaired though it's a more dangerous time in my life The Next Step will illuminate each step step a test of faith and each step a step of Faith Forward Motion each Forward Motion a step closer to what God has called me to be to the place God has called me and there are times where our destination is visible and the entire road ahead of us is we know exactly what it is we need to do motivation and passion is at a an all time high and uh we can point to those times in our life where we can see the end goal I I know exactly what I need to do to go after what God has called me to do I I can I'm not walking in in these Seasons but I'm running and and I'm taking people with me and I'm encouraged and I'm inspired and those are the times I I can see it in the distance and I can go after what God has called me to do and I'm thankful I'm grateful for those times and I look back at them and they're they're motivating and I can get up and preach about those and we can shout and dance and those times seem to be a little bit more easier to preach about but at other times we can find ourself in the bleakest of circumstances where it seems that the only thing visible is the next step that I take this was the case for the Israelites as well the same God who had miraculously delivered them from bondage from Egypt was once again ready to make a way when there seemed to be no way that is encouraging the same God that delivered us from Pharaoh that sent the plagues down for us to get out of Egypt that allowed us to cross the Red Sea see a a pathway forward knowing exactly what I needed to do knowing exactly where I needed to go and once I crossed the enemy that was on my heels would be no more I didn't have to worry about them building some type of Bridge to come after me or being able to maneuver through the the pharaoh's Navy if you will to get across they they were done with and it was miraculous the whole p opened and now God was ready to do another miraculous work for the Israelites at another body of water on their Tri to the promise God had for them but now they stood on the banks of the Jordan River no doubt going through their mind how God had worked the previous time at this body at a body of water One River yet to cross before entering into their promise into their Destiny and their destination one obstacle before reaching what God had called for them and in Joshua we read that it shall he said beh in Joshua 3:11 behold the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the Earth passeth over before you into the Jordan as he begin to give them instruction now therefore take you 12 men out of the tribes of Israel out of every tribe of man and it shall come to pass as soon as the souls of the feet of the priest that bear the Ark of the Lord the Lord of all the Earth shall rest in the waters of the Jordan that the Waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above and they shall stand upon an Heap and it came to pass when the people removed from their ttin to pass over the Jordan and the priest bearing the Ark of the Covenant before the people and they that bear the ark were come to the Jordan and the feet of the priest that bear the ark were dipped in the brim of water note for the Jordan overfloweth all her banks at this time of harvest that the waters which came down from above and stood up in Rose on every Heap and the people passed right over against it and the pieace that bear the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground right in the midst of the Jordan and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground until the people were passed clean over Jordan God did a work God performed the miraculous God did it different this time than he did the last time this day the priest had to step in to the Raging River first God moving with each step the previous generation had stood there and they they they didn't cross but this time the people had a mindset and the the same God that had allowed them to cross the Red Sea was still ready to do something miraculous he was still ready to provide he still wanted to make a way when there was no way but this time it was going to look a bit different this time instead of an Avenue being created miraculously through the SE the priests were going to first have to step in to the water and every step they took the dry ground appeared in comparison to our illustration in comparison to our key text with each step their path was illuminated on this day all the people had placed their trust and confidence in him to deliver and God LED them to what was promised to them and when the priests who carried the ark approached the Raging Waters they did not hesitate on this day to step in and they were not afraid of what they saw with their eyes because their focus was on the promise that God had for them they were unable to see the promise that God had for them they didn't know what each step was going to entail as they crossed the Jordan on this day but they had faith and trust in the miracle work in God and each step that they took each step forward that they took the path continued to appear before them and with courage and determination they stepped in and God performed another amazing Miracle but it was different than the last one God held back the Waters of the Jordan River and from the moment the priest took the first steps in the troubled water they miraculously stopped flowing and they would stand in the midst on the dry ground as all of the people of Israel passed by and when the last of them had crossed safely the priest followed behind and when they reached the other side God released the waters back a lot of similarities indeed with the body of water but a different Act of Faith had to take place and it was further proof that no Waters would rage too high and nothing could hold them back from receiving his promises but they had to trust in him in what he told them to do they made a commitment to follow whatever instruction God gave them regardless of how unorthodox it may have seemed and you can see the Israelites here here at the brink of the Jordan at the banks of the Jordan River no doubt hearing the stories from previous generations and uh celebrations and festivals as part of their worship of how they crossed the Jordan River and they knew exactly what it entailed and no doubt in their mind God was going to work just like he did then in this circumstance but he didn't and if you would give me a little bit of latitude this might have been the deterrent for a previous generation previous people not to have crossed it up until this point because they were waiting perhaps for God to do it the same way he did last time but this time was different this time they couldn't see what was out before them this time they were going to have to take a step of faith and then another step of faith and then another step of faith and the pathway was only going to be visible with every Forward Motion verse 15 of our text said the Jordan was at flood stage and it was during harvest the gentle Jordan now was a raging river currents could reach up to 40 mph plus the plane that surrounds this River was packed with tangled Bush and dense growth the Prophet Jeremiah hundreds of years later would beg the question in reference to this culturally known obstacle if you stumble on good ground if you stumble on safe ground how are you going to be able to manage and he uses the term uh as defined in our current context as thickets of Jordan it was it was dense it it it was a jungle like it it had a lot of growth and the banks were overflowing and it wasn't a convenient season to cross but God called them at that specific point in time and said I know this might seem like the darkness of night I I know this is is a a mighty raging River but you can't wait in this season because I've called you to do it right now and God had a plan for them as they left out of Egypt through the Red Sea and God continued on with his plan but the plan looked different as they crossed the Jordan and I want each and every one of you to know tonight that God has a plan for you on this day and there may be a Jordan that needs to be crossed in your life and you look back at the previous testimonies in your personal life and the previous uh triumphs and victories in your life and and maybe you're like me you're you're on the brink of a Jordan in your life and you want God to work the same way that he did that last time and you've been waiting and you've been kind of looking at your watch oh it's the sun's going down at 531 2023 20 24 it's my year and the sun just went down again a minute later though and things look the same way right now as it did a week ago a month ago and I'm just waiting for God to clear that pathway out and work just like he did the last time in my situation the last time in my faith walk but maybe God's working on our hearts tonight maybe his word is asking you tonight to I know it's not a convenient season I know this is when the river is is Raging and I I know these are the thickets of Jordan and I know you're surrounded by Darkness but you need to take another step by faith and yes I'm The Miracle Worker I I'm able to provide and I'm ready to perform the miraculous and situation right now but you have to step out the Jordan River represents those obstacles in our life and the battles that we must fight in order to cross to achieve what God has promised us and you can be assured that you will have to cross the Jordan in your life and each and every one of us have one that we we might experience and our Jordans as I talked about at the at the onset of this message are going to look different for every single one of us our Jordan rivers are going to take place at different points in our life but be assured you're going to have to make a decision am I going to make a commitment to walk by faith and sometimes I know in my personal life I I can say I'm just going to continue to to to to wait because God's going to do it just like this like he did the last time and I'm not going to have to suffer any of that I'm not going to have to go through any of that but all the time he's calling on you to say trust in my word take a step by faith yeah I know your vision is blurred I I know it it might your answer might not come tomorrow your answer might not come next week or next month it it might not even be this year but don't don't let doubt and don't let weariness and don't let your joy be stolen and don't let your peace of mind be taken while you while you think that you're waiting on me I'm I'm calling you to take a step by faith tonight I can't promise you that you're going to know what the end goal looks like I can't promise you that you're going to know how long it's going to take to get there but if you'll take a step by faith I promise I will be with you he said if you'll step in to the water and start moving in the direction of what I have promised you you might not be able to see the next step in front of you but I will never leave you and I will never forsake you and I will be with you as you cross and you can't wait for a convenient season you can't wait for a break in the waves oh but God last time you did it like this so I'm going to wait until till it looks like that he's saying no I need you to move right now he doesn't always do it this time the way he did the last time sometimes he'll divide the sea at the shore and then sometimes he'll say oh no you got to step in you've got to put your foot in and you've got to step in what looks like a mighty raging River with the thickets at its Harvest going at 40 mph where you can't see what he's promised you but you've got to stay faithful and take and continue to take steps by faith maybe you're here tonight and you've been walking this Faith walk and maybe you're just maybe you're one step away just you're just so close to what God has promised for for you maybe you feel like you've been just wandering in the night and unsure if God is going to answer my prayer unsure if God is going to give me the certainty to the questions that I've that I've been asking I feel in his word tonight that he's he's asking you to just continue to take steps of faith don't let doubt enter your mind don't let weariness enter your mind don't don't let your peace be taken away he's saying just trust in me as you take each step and I believe that we have an opportunity tonight for our minds to be renewed for our hearts to be renewed not because the date on the calendar changed but because we serve a savior who says his Mercy is new every single morning and now your hardships from last year from the last season don't magically disappear because we're now in a a new year or in a a new season but he's asking you just just to remain faithful and and trust in him with each step and our verse says as they stepped into the water they were holding up the Ark of the Covenant the the the promise of God's presence with them and as with each step they take took the water would part and they held up God's presence with them I want you to know tonight to every believer every follower of Christ you've repented of your sins you've gone down in his name and you've been given that gift of the Holy Ghost I want you to not know tonight that you you you you have God's presence with you you have God's presence living inside of you and when you're in the darkest of nights in the bleakest of a circumstance or situation please know tonight please know tonight that with each step that you take he is with you I know this this this season can do a lot to your your mental health your physical health and the these seasons can bring about so many different me memories of of loved ones and Pastor mentioned it this morning Mighty saints of God through this past year who have gone home and this this Seasons when there's not as much daylight all of these things can come together and all of the stresses of of life can come at us at once and we can become bogged down with L and we can also have spiritual attacks on us as well and there can also be be the stresses of life as well and all of these things can accumulate and come at us at the same time and we can lose our hope and we can lose our faith and we can lose our our joy and we can lose our peace but I just believe tonight through his word that it's the that simple verse of scripture if you will your word is a lamp unto my feet and a a light unto my path and I I think that every single one of us can find oursel in a circumstance maybe in this season maybe or maybe you can Comfort somebody else to know that they're not alone maybe you can reach out to somebody else to say hey you're not you're not alone in this we're in this together just to to know that if you'll just take continue to take steps of of faith that God's going to continue to work God's going to continue to move he's still the miracle working God he's still able to perform the miraculous it might look different this time than it than it did last time but he's still wanting to move in their life would you give the Lord a great big hand oh I believe it in my soul tonight I believe that his word is the answer tonight you have his presence with you it's a gift it's not ushered in by some kind of membership card from a church you can't give an offering to get it he gave his life for you and you you have the Holy Ghost you have God's presence with you I believe it tonight as they stepped into the water they were holding that promise up say God I I know you're with me and that might be the solution to a lot of the things that we deal with maybe not be absent of Not absent minded of reality but if I get my head up and and know that God is with me and God is leading me and directing me toward his promise and knowing his presence with me I it might just enable me to to walk a little bit easier this enabled everyone to pass through in job 3510 and if the musicians would come job 3510 a man who walked in darkness he said but none saith where is God my maker who giveth songs in the night the soul is part of humanity mind will and emotions and it tends to be powerfully influenced by the environment it's relatively easy to break forth into singing when the Warm Rays of the Sun are beaming down when the Brilliant Blue of the sky is interrupted only by the fleecy softness of billowy white clouds but when the sun slips behind the Horizon and the sky turns dark it's often more times difficult to sing a happy song the song of the believer though does not come from without it comes from within even in the darkness to conceal all manner perhaps of what lurks around the corner even if no star twinkles against the night sky the people of God the children of God still have a song and our songs are not influenced by the exterior our our songs are influenced by what's inside here and that's the comforter Jesus Christ the Holy Ghost living inside of you and even if there's Tears while you're singing weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning maybe you're singing a song tonight that says all in his hands or I raise a Hallelujah in the presence of my enemy or it's Hallelujah anyhow or I've got a feel feeling that everything's going to be all right maybe it's victory in Jesus my Savior forever maybe it's I go to the rock for my salvation I I know where my footing lies I I know what's going to direct my next step and it's not by the environment it's not by what I can see in my flesh but his word a lampen to my feet and a lie unto my path Paul and Silas who had a song in the night prison doors open and it wasn't just for them but everyone in the prison's doors were opened as well and when we realize that we have a song in the night when we feel his presence in those most difficult of times others take notice as well and they're encouraged by the life that you live by the perseverance that you have taken on by by your faith walk and all of the sudden their hands are lifted up as well how many times during a service you see somebody getting joy in their life who are just enduring a a difficult circumstance in their life something I I can't even identify with but I see them worshiping and I I see them praising and it just does something to my heart and I I know that I can as well stand with me so as you stand on the brink of that Jordan whatever it might be in your life it can come at us and so many different situations it could be a issue of Health your fin finances a familiar or marital relationship something with your children may something in your P could P it could be so many different things so many different things in your life I want you to know tonight that he is with you the Holy Ghost the comforter is right there with you and you might not know how long it's going to take to get to your destination you might not know how long it's going to take to arrive at what God has promised you but I believe through his word tonight if you'll take a step by faith I think the next step after that is going to be illuminated as well and then you take another step and you're in the darkness of n you're at the the Raging Jordan in the thickets of the the the jungle that is Jordan and you can't see around you but just taking the next step I wonder tonight as we all bow our heads and close our eyes as we pray a focused prayer and I want you to pray a focused prayer for yourself whatever situation whatever issue might be in your life whatever metaphorical Jordan River might be in your life it it could be in the shape of so many different things I wonder if you would ask God right now say Lord you see me right where I am Lord you know that the doubt that might be there you know the hopelessness that might have set in you know the uncertainty of what tomorrow or next week might hold but Lord I want you to know tonight that I'm committed to taking that next step and trusting in your word that it's going to be a a a lamp to my feet and a light unto my path and I'm committing myself right now to take that that next step to what you have called me to be after you've prayed that prayer I wonder if symbolically tonight as we went through our key text and our verses of scripture job said he had a a song in the night how are the people of God able to have a song in the night because they've got the Holy Ghost living and breathing inside of them and I would ask this congregation tonight that a great place to discern what your next step is is at this altar right here and I promise you tonight that you will not come alone I wonder if you could come forward tonight as I give this invitation With a Song in your heart and a song on your lips saying God I trust in you I trust you in this situation I believe in you in this circumstance yes yes yes I I recount and recall the miracle that you've performed to me in the past but I know it might look different this time I know that I I might not have the answer that lies before me this time I know there might be some uncertainty with each step this time but I'm determined to praise I'm determined to worship I'm determined to believe I'm determined not to let my faith waver I'm determined to continue to take the The Next Step Lord that you would illuminate the path to the promise that you have on my life standing Jesus I believe you're going to make a [Music] way Jesus in your name nothing can catch you by surprise you got [Music] could we make this a house and have a season of prayer right now would you look to join up with somebody beside you as a prayer point a connect point and let's pray together as we step forward together to know that God is leading and directing our paths yes Jesus yes Jesus God I thank you God you see every need this house God you see the needs of your people I know I can only see to a certain point but Lord I know that you're going to continue to move I know you're going to continue to work Lord I believe you before it yes Jesus standing [Music] standing only because you you made a way oh yes Jesus would you let a song of Praise exit your lips right now would you let a song of Praise exit your lips right now my joy is not determined by the outside my peace is not determined by the exerior it's the Holy Ghost it's your presence with me and I lift it up tonight father I know you're with me I know you're with me I know you're with us Lord I praise you [Music] yes Jesus yes Jesus he sees you right where you are he's with you right where you are