Wednesday Night Bible Study | Pastor Anthony “Own Your Mourning: Elevate Your Life”

Praise the Lord everyone. And uh obviously I am not bishop but it's a high honor to be up here tonight to uh deliver our study for this evening. And there was no transition with a a chair or anything like that. So I guess was it another uh 75? I asked I asked pastor I said how long has bishop been teaching? He said till about 8:40. No I mean like how many years? And uh so uh in another 75 years, I guess I'll get the uh to be able to sit down while I'm up here. But uh what an honor it is to be with uh the greatest saints on the face of this uh world. And I uh echo the same sentiments as as pastor uh mentioned earlier in our uh prayers for uh the Jack Rutherford family, our sympathy and all of those that have requested uh prayer throughout the week. God knows the need in every one of those situations. If you have your Bibles tonight, if you would turn to the book of Psalm. We're going to read one uh key text and then just implement some other stories uh within it. Psalms chapter 30 verse number five. A familiar passage to all of us. We derive many songs and hymns and poems uh derived from this particular verse. It uh you might be a a bumper sticker, might be uh something you have hanging in your home that you overpaid for at Hobby Lobby, one of those signs or something like that. Um but it states weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning. And I I hope that and I again I reiterate I preach to myself teach to myself. Let God's word never become just desensitized to our to our ears and to our heart and to our soul where uh we we hear a verse, we sing about a verse, but uh when I think about his goodness, when I think about God's mercy and grace being new every single morning, uh it it it makes me stand to my feet. It makes me rejoice. And it is truly our strength. I leave you with this title. Own your morning. And I've got two different spellings up there. M O R N I N G and then mourning uh M O U R N I N G. Elevate your life. I derive this from a book title uh by an author named Robin Chararma. He wrote a book entitled The 500 AM Club where he talks about uh owning and uh taking advantage of the early hours of the day and how it can transform your life. And I begin to ponder and begin to think, what does this look like in the Christian life as we look at the concept of mourning over the difficulties that beset us? And as Christian believers coming off uh a high this past Sunday uh or resurrection Sunday on Easter, celebrating renewals, celebrating the newness of life around us, the spring season even uh throughout uh whether it be artwork or whether it be uh literature or uh a poem, oftent times you'll see the seasons expressed or even in the context of a movie of spring being bringing life and the the growth and the flowers. And yes, we've even preached about the the pollen as well, though that's not usually depicted a great deal in the beauty of the spring. But with that backdrop in mind about renewal, we gather with this joy and this expectation, though we gather not in the ignorance or the ignoring of the trials of life, but we gather and assemble and live by faith in the midst of them. We come together not as strangers to sorrow, but as fellow travelers on a path often marked by tears. Mourning is not merely the grief we feel at the loss of a loved one, though that is certainly certainly a profound form of it. Mourning encompasses a broader spectrum of human experience. It's the disappointment that can wash over us when dreams crumble to dust. It's the sting of failure when our best efforts fall short. It's the weight of hardship pressing down on us when life feels unbearably difficult. It's the anxiety of financial struggles. The fear of an uncertain future. It's the loneliness that can creep in when we feel isolated and misunderstood. Mourning can come when we're like Jonah who we allowed when we were out of the will of God and went in the opposite direction that he told us to do and we create a selfinflicted storm or hardship that comes over our life. Regardless of the hardship, regardless of the trial, mourning, the lamenting still exists. We live in a world that often tells us to avoid mourning. And sometimes even shallow theology preaches us this concept. Or to mask our pain with fleeting pleasures. To overmedicate or to numb our mind with intoxicating substances. To pretend that everything is all right when inside internally our hearts are broken. But as believers, we are called to something different. We're called to acknowledge the reality of our pain, to embrace the truth of our struggles, and to find God's presence even in the darkest valleys of our lives. As I mentioned this past Sunday, what tremendous uh just the AM and the PM service, just every single facet from the singing to the community and the worship together to the great proclamation of God's word going forth to the fellowship that you had with your friends and family and you know it makes it uh extra special to have nice weather. you you know when the the calendar rolls around and e Easter is like it's in like March 2nd or something like that you're like man this is going probably going to be overcast and rainy and cold but just the perfect day and we celebrate this the cornerstone of our faith the central uh doctrine of uh uh in in Christianity the resurrection of Jesus Christ newness and reme we remember his death that a death that seemed like the ultimate defeat. His followers mourned, their hopes dashed, and their dreams seemingly shattered. They witnessed the brutal execution of the one who proclaimed and the one who they believed to be the Messiah, the savior of the world. But then came the resurrection. The stone was rolled away. The tomb was empty, and Jesus Christ emerged victorious over death. and not just a historical event. It's the symbol of a profound spiritual truth. And as I mentioned in the context of our calendar year, in the context of uh our worship, not only at this particular season, but uh every single day when we make decisions in the shadow of the cross, it's res the resurrection signifies newness, hope, and the promise of life even in the face of death. And it reminds us that even in our deepest mourning, God is at work bringing forth new possibilities and transforming our pain into purpose. The resurrection, notice, does not negate our mourning. If we could build a foundation talking about what mourning is in our life, it does not negate it, but it reframes it. It places it in the proper context. It gives us the assurance that our suffering is not the final word. It reminds us that God can take the broken pieces of our lives and create something beautiful, something meaningful, something I submit to you tonight, new. Easter teaches us that morning can be a gateway to a deeper understanding of God's love, a greater appreciation for his grace and a more profound experience of his presence in our lives. So how do from as the title suggests, how do we own our mourning our mur n i n g, I hope I spelled that correctly. How do we navigate the difficult seasons in our life? How do we navigate them with faith? And how do we navigate them with hope? And how do we navigate them with resilience? I hope this isn't over your heads or too deep on this, you know, just uh this this Bible study tonight as we really get into it. But I believe that the answer lies in finding the word of God amidst our pain. In 2 Kings chapter 22, we read, "And Hilkayiah the high priest said unto Shapan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord." This passage speaks of a time in Israel's history when the word of God had been lost. It had been forgotten. It had been neglected. the temple. Notice the irony here. The very place where God's presence was supposed to dwell. His his house, it had become uttered cluttered with idols and pagan practices. And the people had strayed from God's commands. And as a result, they were living in a state of spiritual darkness, still communing together, still uh finding fellowship with one another. But they allowed things in the house to the extent to the place where God was supposed to dwell with the place where they were supposed to be reminded of God's provision and God's healing and uh the testimonies of the past and where it would have been tradition for the priests to speak out the word of God. The word of God had been lost in the house and similarly in our own lives. The events that cause mourning, disappointment, and failures and hardships can become distractions that cloud our vision and cause us to lose sight of the word of God in our house, in our temples. We become so consumed with our pain that we can forget the promises and we can forget the truth and we can forget the hope that are found in scripture. And like the book of the law, lost in the temple, the word of God can become buried beneath the rubble of our broken dreams and shattered expectations where we find ourself in a season of chaos or a season of turmoil and oh my goodness, what do I need to do? And this is often compounded by the other stresses of life. And if you're like me, after about three or four different things, have I gotten into his word yet? Have I have have I looked specifically about what application from his word that I could place into my situation? Have I have I prayed and asked the Holy Ghost, you know, the the comforter, the the one who can advocate on uh your behalf for things that you didn't even know that you needed to pray for. Have I sought out God in my situation? And often times it was the third or fourth thing that I circled back to and it a lack of reminder or things that aren't inherently stressful, excuse me, sinful in your life or things that aren't inherently things that are an opposition to God, but all of the clutter can allow God's word to be lost. in our life. But notice King Josiah had initiated a construction project to rehabilitate the house of the Lord and which had fallen into despair from previous events. But just as Hiliah rediscovered the book of the law during the decision to rebuild, to renew, restore, we too can find the word of God in the midst of our mourning. And I think it was appropriate in this situation that the word of God was found once somebody made a decision that we need to renovate that things are not how they are supposed to be. It's not just going to be some extemporaneous happening or some kind of sign that just pops out of nowhere, but somebody made a decision to roll their sleeves up and to get to work and to take a step forward. and uh this isn't the way things are supposed to be. So, let's put a renovation project on my myself and let me make a purposeful decision. And that's when the word was discovered. We must make a conscientious effort to seek God's truth, to immerse ourselves in scripture, to get into his word. So many times we see uh advertisements for conferences and seminars and uh 8week course studies and all those things are great or or book titles. I I want to hear from the Lord. I I want to hear what God has to say for my situation. Can can a prophet give me a word? Do I believe in prophets? Yes. Can a preacher give me a word? Can I do I believe in preachers? I I hope so. I'm up here trying to do that tonight. uh do I believe in these other uh forms of communication through teaching and preaching and prophecy and and God working extraneously out. Yeah, he can do all those things. Tell you what he can also do. He can speak to you through his infallible, inspired, living word of God. And it's right there at your fingertips. It's right there in your in your cell phone and on your iPad. We we have more uh means and measures to open up God's word and do some kind of search in our lives. My goodness. Type it in. AI if you have to get into God's word. There's a word for your situation to uh we we must allow his word to penetrate the darkness of our hearts. Every promise, every word in the Old Testament, the New Testament is a available to you. Is it financial hardship? There's a word for you. Is it sickness and illness? There's a word for you. Is it a a broken relationship? What whatever the need is, God has navigation and direction for you. And it's important to know what to pray for. The story goes that a mother showed up at a revival meeting with her son and the the preacher had just been the evangelist had really just been preaching the house down. you know, it got probably got to that point where he he he enjoyed hearing himself preach, you know, and uh uh the mother brought the the son up to the altar uh during altar call and uh the music was going and people were shouting and dancing and this was a a very zealous evangelist and she said, "Preacher, I I need you to pray from my son's hearing." Well, that evangelist stepped down and got the oil and he he put his hands on the young man's ears and said, "I pray for this young man right now. God, I pray for his hearing. I rebuke the enemy." And he just went on and he he prayed a powerful authoritative prayer. And when he got done, he said, "Son, how's your hearing?" And he said, "I don't know." And the mother interjected and said, "Uh, we don't go to court till next Tuesday." So, it's important. It's important to be specific. It's important to be specific on what you pray for. Uh but whether it be for his physical hearing or whether it be for his court hearing, there is a word for that. There used to be that promotion, there's an app for that. There's a word for that. If you're dealing with anxiousness and worry, just turn to the book of Philippians. If you if there's fear and uncertainty, uh Isaiah told us, "So, do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous hand. If it's loneliness, if it's grief and loss, if it's financial hardship, if it's sickness and illness, if it's discouragement, if it's guilt and shame, if it's relationship and conflicts, if there's a a lack of purpose in your life, I want you to know tonight in this study that there's a word from heaven for you in whatever capacity of your life. And as you open the lids of your Bible and you comb through how the stories are so weaved together about Israel's relationship to God and the prophets pointing forward to the Messiah, the covenantial promises, the ups and the downs, the success and the failure. the miracles and the forgetfulness of the miracles. Humanity, God using people still after great calamities in their life. And at the same time, we can find oursel overwhelmed in a situation where I I I don't even know where to start. You're telling me God's got a word in my complexity and in my uncertainty. I I wish it would just spring out. I wish it would reveal itself. I'm going to dedicate myself to study. I'm going to make a purposeful attempt like they did in the reconstruction of the temple and I I want to do that in my life. But where do I start at? I got good news. John 1:14 proclaims, "And the word became flesh and dwelt among us." As we have seen his glory, full of grace and truth. No matter where you find yourself at tonight, the greatest foundation that you could start at is call on that name Jesus. Because when you call on that name Jesus, it encompasses every single word, every single attribute, every single covenantal promise, every characteristic. When I remember and talk about Jesus in my life, when I when I pray out to him, he's not just a collection of wise sayings. It's not just good moral teachings. He's the living word of God. He's the embodiment of God's love and grace. Because even us as individuals, we all have our personal testimonies. But not one individual could ever say to every single situation that I know what you're going through. I can feel what you're going through. That that would be unwise. And furthermore, that would be bad theology and and not true at the same time. But there there there's one who is who lived a sinless life. And as we celebrated uh distinctly this past weekend, a a God who doesn't sit on the throne far removed from his creation, but he came down. He became the embodiment of that word. He He was He lived a sinless life and he was crucified for every calamity. for all of the morning. To own your mourning, you need to first find Jesus. You need to encounter him in the pages of this book, in the pages of scripture. It can happen in the quiet moments of prayer. It can happen in the loving community of believers. You need to allow him to speak to your heart to heal your wounds and to guide you through the darkness. I I want to implore someone tonight. I I know that I speak to the proverbial choir tonight as you there there there's so many well- readad individuals and so many followers of Christ that and you've been so for twice and three times as long as I've even uh been alive. and you've been through all kind of thing. Every single one of us can find oursselfves in a circumstance where we turn to other things initially instead of turning to the thing that we know can bring us life. to the thing that we know can bring us healing to the thing that we know can bring us true restoration that can uh convict our hearts and bring us into repentance where I stop deflecting about what's going on in my life and I make the acknowledgement that you know maybe these waves are rocky on this boat because I'm did some things that were in opposition to what God called me to do. I posted on or reposted a a YouTube video I found from I believe the recording was from 1972 and it was Artha Franklin singing what a friend we have in Jesus. And I want to uh read these words. I won't sing them. You can say thank God and and praise for that later. But the song states and many of you could recite it. What a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. And I I I'd invite you to look that up this evening or tomorrow. And the choir behind her is just repeating that line. Everything, everything, everything, everything. Oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless needless pain we bear all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer. Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? The question asked. We should never be discouraged. Just take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness. take it to the Lord in prayer. I want to encourage somebody tonight. I want to give an invitation to someone tonight that even in a midweek Bible study on a on a Wednesday night, this might be a little bit over pragmatic. I I don't have some uh it is revelatory. It's revelation every single day when you open up God's word. It's not some new kind of hocus pocus or uh some kind of fad, but I I don't know what else to say in regards to uh to to to to things that don't have substance. But I want to invite you tonight that whatever you're dealing with, have you tried getting in God? I'm talking about getting into his word. I'm talking about reading his word. I'm talking about taking it before him and saying, "God, I need direction in this situation. God, I need you to show up in this situation. I need you to bring healing from my heart. I I need the Holy Ghost to lead me and I'm am I responding in the right way? Am I stepping in the right direction? I I need you to be my navigation right now." When we find Jesus, we find hope. We find comfort. We find strength. We find the assurance that we are not alone in our suffering. He's the good shepherd who leads us through the valley of the shadow of death. Think about that imagery just for a second. The as a sheep and the we're following the shepherd and death and calamity and hardship and and trial and and failure and that mourning just is like a mountain in our life. with a shadow cast over us and it's right there upon us to take us out and we're in the we're so close to it that we can't even feel the sunlight. The the shadow is down on us. But the Bible says we have a good shepherd who's going to lead us through those difficult paths. He's going to lead us through those seasons of turmoil if we'll if we'll listen to his voice. If we'll stay connected to him. if we'll if we'll follow him. He's the prince of peace who calms the storms in our soul. If if we'll wake him up on our if we'll wake him up on our boat of life, he he'll step out and speak to the storm. And if you notice, I don't know if there's any relevance here, but man, it'd be a great sermon to preach if there was. When you when you look at uh when when Jesus spoke to the storm, that term peace is capitalized as if it has a name the way we name hurricanes and great storms that come upon us. And uh that's what Jesus does. He'll he'll take the difficult seasons in our life and he'll put a name on them that you can then point back to as a moment of victory, as a a testimony. And then you tell that to somebody else. And the very thing that had a name on it to take you out, Jesus does some transforming. Jesus does some intervention, if you will, to reframe the situation. He's the great physician who heals our broken hearts and binds up binds up our wounds. For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even the dividing of sunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and as a discerner to the thoughts and intents of the heart. Man, I hope that was impressive the way I recited that. Let me let me confess. When I was a senior in high school, I joined the Bible quiz team. I was not a very good Bible quizzer. I didn't study, but that was the one verse I memorized. And uh poor sister Debbie Deusk, when she gets to heaven, she will have the largest mansion imaginable for tolerating me through high school and then being my Bible quiz coach. Let's just say I was the sixth man of the Bible quiz team. I didn't start. We got we got a big lead on a team. And that was the only verse I knew from because the the the Bible quizzing was on the book of Hebrews and that was that was it. But I memorized that one. So we got a big lead in the game or the one of the matches. I don't even know what they're called. That's how invested I was. And Sister Debbie, I guess she felt bad for me. She checked me in toward the I think with one question left or something like that. and we had such a big lead that I guess she assume assumed like I can always check him back out. So I had my hand on the buzzer and would you know they call it the quiz master or whatever state Hebrews 4 bum for the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two words. Man, I finished that and everybody clapped and Sister Debbie's just sitting there shaking her head. And they're like, "Why didn't you play more? I I wanted to give everybody else a chance, you know, and honest to God, this is the God's honest truth." And I say that on the platform, and I'm still kind of looking over my shoulder. If there be anything else, uh 10, eight years later, I got into divinity school, seminary, all those fancy terms. And I got with my class And uh the uh the instructor started out the class reading a psalm and then she read it in Hebrew. And I'm like, "This is real deal." And they passed out these little leaflet deals of uh of scriptures that everybody was going to participate in and and read out loud and there was like 16 of us. So would you know I got Hebrews 4 and 12. So once again, I stood up and I read that through and those people are like, man, and he even did that in King James, like you know, so all the other verses I'm I'm going to read, but Hebrews 4:12, but it says, "The word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword." And we get this imagery of this militaristic might of uh of power and uh the battlefield and a a crusader and uh the a sword and a sheath and a a shield and all these things. But I tell you what else is sharper than a two-edged sword. And that's a medical scholar. And it says he's the great physician. And his word can have the intricacy and precision of a of a medical tool just to to get right there in a complex situation where there's there's hurt and there's there's brokenness and it can just it says he he he can he can heal broken hearts and it says it it binds up our wounds. You you think of uh getting stitches and and and bringing healing and binding these things together. Oh yeah, it can work on a a Sunday night when the the choir is up here singing and the the praise team up here going and we're in a fever pitch and then I come up during offering and start uttering something that don't make sense, but the music's so good that we're still shouting. But even in those still quiet moments, those difficult conversations, those moments of prayer, the great physician, that intricate word can begin to heal in your life. Jesus is our greatest example. We read about him visiting his hometown of Nazareth and going to the synagogue on the Sabbath. Well, I don't know about you, but you would think Jesus entering his hometown, you'd think there'd be some kind of prayed and some floats and everything else. But this is not how he was met. And he stood up to read and was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. And it says, "He found the place where it was written." And he said, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set a liberty to those, notice that I'm not reciting this and I'm reading, who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. He rolled up the scroll. He gave it back to the attendant. And he sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened upon him. And he began to say to them, "Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." Jesus found the place where it was written. He knew the specific passage of scripture that spoke to his mission, that spoke to his purpose, that spoke to his identity at the appropriate time, at the divinely missioned time, in the midst of doubt, in the in the midst of those that knew him dismissing his authority, in the midst of skepticism. He knew where it was written and he declared that it was being fulfilled in this very moment. And similarly to our own morning, you need to find the place where it is written in your situation. You need to discover the specific promise. You need to discover the specific truth. You need to find the specific words of comfort that God has in your particular season of mourning. You need to own your morning. You need to find out what God has to say about what you're going through. This requires intentionality. It's not just going to happen upon you. It requires seeking God's guidance through prayer. It requires meditation on scripture and putting forth a little bit more effort than I did in Bible quizzing. It requires being open to the Holy Ghost leading. It might require you going to somebody and saying, "Hey, I'm sorry. I messed up." It might require you going to somebody saying, "Hey, there was a misunderstanding. Let's move forward. Let me pay you back. Let's do better." When you find that place where it is written for your situation, you will find an experience a profound sense of hope and empowerment. You will know that God sees you. Your faith will be built. You you will begin to understand uh this the crucifixion all all over again. re remembering our baptism, why we're baptized, why we take on his name, why why we get so excited about his mercy and his grace being new every single morning. You know that he understands what you're going through. It's almost as if you have like a relationship with him. Crazy crazy stuff I'm talking about tonight. I know that he has a a plan for your healing and restoration. It's been said if you since your life's a mess right now simply because your fears are just a little stronger than your faith. I'm not going to say you're going to be completely absent of fear. But if if you can if you can get that faith a little bit more than your fear, if you can fill those voids up with his word when you you've tried everything else, I just believe that we serve a God so powerful that he's able to move in your morning. In 2 Samuel 12, and I'm coming uh to a close, we read about David's mourning over his son who was conceived through his sin with Bath Sheba. God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David about his sin and Nathan delivered a harsh judgment that the child would die. And if you're not familiar with that story, or maybe you are, I would invite you to go back and read it. It's one of the and nobody can tell it like Bishop. We we need to just have him preach that same sermon over. No, nobody can illustrate it like he does. But we see this confrontation between the prophet of God representing God's word to David, the man after God's own heart in his sin over his uh conspiracy and treason and fornication and adultery. Uh, and the God's word says, "David, thou art the man, and there's going to be consequence for your sin. He conspired to have his army, General Uriah, killed." I won't go into all the details for time's sake, but but please, please study that King David, the man after God's own heart, has been punished for his wickedness. He fasts and spends days in sackcloth travailing over the imminent death of his baby. He's in utter despair. He refuses food. He won't clean himself and he won't get out of bed. He's in a state of mourning. But then we read once the finality and the consequence, the wages of sin takes place. Once that baby had died, we read that David rises up. He cleans himself up. He puts on some new clothes. He anoints himself. He goes to the house of God to worship and then he goes to get something to eat to nourish his physical body. His servants were bewildered. They asked him this, "What is this thing you have done? You fasted and you wept for a child while while he was alive. But now that he's dead, now you you are raw eyes and you go eat food and you change your clothes and you anoint yourself." David replied, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. For I said, 'Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me that the child may live? But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me." And now David is taking the posture of the recognition for the sin in his life, for the calamity and the mourning in his life. But he comes to the acknowledgment that there is nothing he can no longer do in regards to the sin that he had committed. He now makes the decision to know that there is still purpose. There is still mission. There is still life left. And he picks himself up and washes himself off and anoints himself. This isn't to say that he didn't still have troubles and memories and that it was uh just heart-wrenching and difficult, but he knew that he had to move on. And we read that he goes on to be intimate with his now wife Basha. And he has another son who would become Solomon. Solomon would be the next king with great riches and uh be the the builder of the largest temple. He would be known for his splendor and his wisdom. Telling us that even in the darkest valley of life that David found himself in that was self-inflicted. It wasn't as if some neighboring army came and did all these things to David. It wasn't as if some friend stabbed him in the back. It was his own wrongdoing. It was his own sin. It was his own wickedness. But God still brought mercy and grace. And David had to step out of that time of mourning and said, "Yes, I mourned. Yes, this happened. Yes, there's nothing I can do to change it, but I can step forward and know that there's still people depending upon me. I know that there's still blessing in my future. I know that there's a greater temple. yet to be built. He knew the Lord had chosen to take the child. It was done. There was no more staying in the past. He decided to trust God even in the pain. He recognized notice that his mourning while valid and necessary could not consume him. He chose to embrace the future, to trust in God's plan, and to continue living with purpose and hope. David's example teaches us that owning our mourning does not mean denying our pain or pretending that everything is okay. So don't purposely misinterpret what I'm saying tonight, but it means allowing oursel to grieve, allowing us to feel the full weight of our sorrow, but then making a concerted effort and a decision to move forward with faith and resilience, saying, "Whatever's taken place, whatever's happened, I serve a God who stickketh closer than a brother. What a friend I have in Jesus, and I'm going to step out of it. [Applause] God can bring you out of the most painful experiences and he has plans for you a larger temple to be built blessings and a future beyond your current season of mourning. It's also been said a bad day for the ego is a good day for the soul. Someone listening tonight needs to realize that you're there's some things in your life that have died. And no matter what you do, you can't bring them back. You can you pray and travail, but it it's passed. There's nothing you can do to change it. But you need to do like David. You need to pick yourself up that you had a season of mourning, but now you need to clean yourself up. You need to wash yourself up. You need to put on a change of clothes. You need to go to God's house and worship. You need to go have another baby. Go go go go go talk about God's promises and uh the expectation of God's blessings in the future cuz your time's not up. Brother Lewis Hera pin the words. I'm not only going to make it, but I'm going to enjoy the trip. My life is not over. I might have been in the shadow of death for a moment. Stand with me. But things are not over. There's still hope. There's still future. Yes, I had a season of mourning, but now I'm stepping out. Now I'm coming out. Now I'm walking my faith. Your life's not over. Your ministry is not over. Your job's not over. Let me close with this. Satan's the great compromiser and he is content. He is satisfied when you're stagnant. Are you through your calling and neutral? If he can oppress your mind with shame and uh regret and and and clutter your life with the cares of life and the stresses of life and the things that's happened in your life, if he he's content with you come and sitting on a church pew, he he's content with you still showing up, but every time you try to take a step forward, he it kind of pulls you back. You got to make it up in your mind that you're stepping out. You're stepping forward. You're moving forward. And we're going to have an Acts experience, an Acts 4 experience. And that talks about when they return to the upper room again after after oppression and persecution. We preach about Acts 2 and that's absolutely great. The initial outpouring of God's spirit with the evidential speaking with tongues. But they went out and things were not so easy. They were scattered abroad. Some had been murdered. Some had been hurt. They were hungry. They were desolate. They didn't know what to do. But they gathered again in Acts 4. And it says the Holy Ghost fell again. And I know I know the Holy Ghost can fall for you again. And as Pastor McCoy preached Sunday morning about the oil and the lamps, you might be here tonight and you want to take part in the joy and the celebration that comes with coming to God's house and being with one another, but sometimes you feel like you're here and your and your lamps out of oil. I want you to know that you can be refilled tonight. You can be refilled at home. You can be refilled with the oil of the Holy Ghost. You get in God's word and you get the Holy Ghost at the same time. You can come out of whatever is trying to keep you down. Lift your hands across this place and let's pray that focus prayer. Mighty God, we thank you tonight. Lord, we thank you for your word. Lord, when we read your word, when we hear your word, when we speak your word, God, we're a church body that's committed not to get complacent. We're a church body that's committed not to get desensitized to your promises. Lord, when I know that joy is coming in the morning, I believe it. When I know that I hear your word, that it gives me strength, I confirm it, Lord. I believe the Holy Ghost is going to do some things that I didn't even know that I could do. It's going to lead me to some places that I didn't even know I needed to go. And I believe you're going to heal and you're going to restore and you're going to provide. And Lord, we thank you for your word. And Lord, we take it with us tonight to be the examples that you would have us to be in this world. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Would you give the Lord a great big hand clap of praise