The Therapy of Thanksgiving 11/28/2021 11:30 AM

i'm thankful for the presence of the lord here right now never take for granted that when we gather two or three the bible said he's there in the midst and i'm thankful for his presence today and where his presence is his power is also available to us amen and there's nothing too hard for god it's good to see all of you today on a weekend when lots of people are traveling and team members coming and going thankful for the great trip with brother jury to tanzania and the work that was done there good to see you brother thompson sister thompson part of our church family and served on this team years ago and we're glad to have isaac you know it was a ram caught in the thicket but this time it was isaac that the lord provided to us today and glad to have little sister brianna here visiting from the chicago area brandon and isaac's sister we're glad to have you here thank you for your prayers for so many people but including my mom we need it she needs the prayer and all of that so romans chapter one romans chapter one have you had a good week amen god is good sometimes life is tough this has been a difficult week for some people loss grief sickness loneliness for some people which may be worse than some other things that people go through but the lord's blessings on our lives and our attitude toward the difficulties the vicissitudes of life make all the difference in the world amen so i want to preach to you a little bit about that today romans chapter 1 verse 18. this is a good thanksgiving week opening line for the wrath of god doesn't that make you feel better already for the wrath of god is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness because that which may be known of god is manifest in them for god has showed it unto them for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even is eternal power and godhead so that they are without excuse verse 19 god's revealed himself in conscience verse 20s revealed himself through nature and they knew him but they would not acknowledge him verse 21 because that when they knew god they glorified him not as god neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations their foolish heart was darkened the consequences professing themselves to be wise they became fools romans 1 shows the moral decay of the ungrateful and i want to contrast the disease of ingratitude with the therapy of thanksgiving god bless you please be seated the therapy of thanksgiving i don't want to be dramatic but monday night was a pretty long monday monday was a long day and monday night i'd worked a little late on the project and i was in bed trying to go to sleep and the therapy of thanksgiving just came to me from out of the blue so strong to preach today and i didn't really want to get up you know i didn't want to even put it in my phone and send an email to myself but i didn't want to be like nebuchadnezzar or that king who had a dream and forgot it so i got up and i created a file the therapy of thanksgiving so i've been thinking about this all week long the week of thanksgiving therapy is a treatment that's intended to relieve or heal a disorder it's a treatment that hopefully helps you feel better grow stronger especially after you've experienced an illness therapy can be for your body to heal after an illness illness or an accident i spoke with jimmy townsend this week he's in physical therapy occupational therapy trying to cope with the paralysis from his accident and believing god for a miracle at the same time therapy can be for your mind or your emotions to help you recover from trauma or to help you develop healthy attitudes and patterns of thinking because the way you think does affect the way you live therapy can also be of a spiritual nature to bring health and wholeness to you through and through that was a prayer of the apostle paul to the thessalonians and the very god of peace first thessalonians 5 23 and the very god of peace sanctify you holy and i pray god your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless under the coming of our lord jesus christ paul's prayer was that they would be made whole through and through spirit soul body the god of peace can make you well physically spiritually and emotionally amen if you're spiritually or emotionally wounded the lord is your healer amen and he can heal every dimension of sickness or disorder in your life so i want to minister the word of god today not to just give insight or understanding from the bible but i believe that the word of god is the sword of the spirit that it actually does something amen it goes beyond something you hear it is something that has a power to change your circumstances to change you to make you better amen and i preach this because whether you want to admit it or not we're all just a little messed up are a lot messed up the life has marked you and messed you with you and it's affected you and some of you have gotten over it and some of you have not we're all messed up just a little bit our habits of thinking when they're not healthy it affects every part of our life it affects our view of god our view of ourselves our view of other people in our relationships we interact with people based on our attitudes and if we feel that we are victims we've been wronged if we don't get through and then get over what has happened to us it will mark us and affect us deeply it was not part of my sermon notes but as i was worshiping in the first service the lord reminded me of naomi who is really the the main character of the book of ruth naomi and her husband elimelech left the land of bethlehem judah during a famine things were tough in bethlehem judah so they moved to moab with their sons maelon and chileon please don't name your children maelon and chileon while they were moab elimelech died and then maelon and chileon who had married moabitus women orpha and ruth they both died and there is naomi with two daughters-in-law all three widows living in bethlehem judah naomi makes up her mind to come home she tells her daughters-in-law to stay there and marry a man of their country orpha kisses her but stays ruth says those famous lines wherever you go i will go wherever you live i'll live wherever you're buried i'll be buried and your god will be my god they're beautiful lines that ruth just inherently said because she had fallen in love evidently with naomi and naomi's god so now these two widows come back from moab to bethlehem judah as they approach the city the women of the city see naomi in a distance they don't know ruth and they ask this question is this naomi it looks like her but she's aged beyond her years perhaps she doesn't look the same as she did when she left bethlehem so many years ago she's wrinkled and she she looks like what she's been through i like what a preacher said several months ago here i don't look like what i've been through naomi looked like what she had been through and naomi responds to the women of the city who are wondering if it's really her she says do not call me naomi but call me melra which means bitterness remember the bitter waters of mara don't call me naomi but call me bitterness because the lord hath dealt very bitterly with me and the almighty has afflicted me why should i identify any longer as the beautiful naomi when i have now become a bitter old widow she looked and she thought like she what she had been through but my message today is that there is a god in heaven that can help you get through and then get over whatever you have been through to change your perspective toward god towards yourself toward other people toward life what naomi did not know was that the hand of god was not against her god was not against her god was for her he brought her home he gave her a grandchild a grandson through ruth who was in the lineage of jesus christ what she thought was against her was really for her [Applause] talking about the therapy of thanksgiving amen the bible is very clear that our first step toward god should be repentance repentance is a bible word it means a change of mind in practice it's an about face on sin walking away from a life of sin and selfishness and i'll do it and have it my way to submission to the lordship of jesus christ confessing and forsaking your sins and deciding to walk in a new direction only you can do that god will not repent for you but i have watched over and over hundreds and hundreds of times that when a person truly turns from their sins that they not only change their mind but they change their heart and their life direction and it allows god to let his power flow into their lives and they may be bound by addictions but god will free them when they repent they may have a life filled with sin but repentance that change allows god to move in you amen we need to repent of our sins over and over as often as necessary but we also need to change our minds about things that happen to us about our view of god and other people amen that's my message today that when we look up to god in a thanksgiving heart a heart of thanksgiving that is therapeutic to change our spirit soul body it affects us in a positive way when you change your mind about your life your circumstances the adversities that you're facing when you adopt god's perspective it will heal you emotionally spiritually and you may be surprised on the positive effect it has on your body now i know that not every sickness is a direct result of trauma or bad attitudes or anger or bitterness or unforgiveness but it does affect you now all of us will age and die with something unless jesus comes back for his church and that's just a part of life that is appointed other men wants to die right that's that's just in all of our future but you do not need to to make it worse to try to pie along to exacerbate the normal aging process with bitterness and anger and hurt and allowing that to reside in you to poison your spirit and your mind and your emotions amen i believe that god can give his people a resilience ability to bounce back from disappointment from her from setback amen what naomi was not choosing to do as she was coming home was to imagine the hand of god that god's nature did not change because life went bad for her god's nature of goodness did not change when elimelech died god's goodness did not change when mylon and chileon died if she could have only seen the guiding hand of god that was having mercy on her and bringing her back home to restore the naomi and to take away the bitterness of her life the therapy of thanksgiving several years ago now i i taught in a wednesday night a message entitled i don't hate nobody brother jt pew one of my heroes who's gone to be with the lord was i was with him one day and i said brother pugh how are you doing and he just said in his west texas draw on purpose he said brother johns i don't hate nobody now i know he didn't pass a grammar test with that but he said i don't hate nobody and i thought of all the things this man who was nearly 80 years old could say to me he decided he would say to me i don't hate nobody because he let me know that is what jesus said that the prince of this world is coming and he has nothing in me there's nothing that belongs to that underworld that is in me there's no malice there's no hatred there's no sin i've repented of my sins i've been washed by the blood of jesus christ i don't hate nobody [Applause] attitudes of hatred unforgiveness are not only sin that lead to bitterness but they are debilitating it will make you look like what you've been through it will make you a a bitter person a mara not a naomi in gratitude not being thankful is not healthy for you in any way being ungrateful does not lead to spiritual wholeness or emotional or mental or physical wholeness i've learned that if you if you live thinking that you deserve a certain way for your life to go you're going to be a very disappointed person because unrealistic unfulfilled expectations will undermine gratefulness in your life if you live expecting everything to be perfect for you and then you blame god when it goes another way you're going to destroy the gratitude for the life god has given you and for forgiveness that he has given you [Applause] amen i'm just not too wild about the word deserve because i think it's a set up for disappointment for bitterness amen one time i was dealing with a tragic situation and it was it was a terrible thing and i was praying and i was asking the lord why this crisis this tragedy would be like that and i felt like the lord spoke to me about what about my son he was disfigured he was beaten until he was a bloody pulp and he was perfect in every way so why do you think that those people or you or anyone else should deserve something will undermine gratitude amen we live in a society of people who feel that they are entitled god or the government or their parents someone should give them something that they haven't even worked for and when they don't get what they think they're entitled to then they're angry they blame i don't want to live like that that is not a biblical model of christianity in any way but being grateful to god creates a clear focus on god instead of our circumstances here's what i know i cannot control all of my circumstances the things around you circumstances i can affect them in some way but i cannot control what happens to me in life but i can always control my attitude i know i can have a reaction but i can decide my response i can repent of a wrong reaction i can bring it in check to the word of god and i can kind of have a checkup from the neck up i can repent i can change my mind and i can choose my attitude when i cannot choose my circumstances i know a lemon-like is dead and maelon and chileon are dead and it seems like things were bad but naomi looking back said i went out full it was in a famine i went out full and the lord has brought me home again empty the perspective of time made her realize what she had when she walked away thinking that things were terrible now there are people who walk away from god because things are not good in their life in their family in the church somebody hurt their feelings someone did them wrong but i guarantee you this if you wait just a little while and you look back a season that you thought was a famine was a time of blessing in your life and god's hand was on you then and god's hand is on you now amen gratitude doesn't change your circumstances but it it changes you thanksgiving a spirit an attitude of thanksgiving keeps you from drowning in the negative circumstances of your life thanksgiving is a therapy that helps you heal and overcome no matter what is coming in your life no matter what adversity you may face and gratitude looks up to god and acknowledges him and honors him as a source of every good thing the apostle paul wrote to the church in thessalonica in first thessalonians 5 17 in every thing the king james makes it two words in everything give thanks for this is the will of god in christ jesus concerning you now you may not be able to give thanks for everything you can argue the nuance of words here there may be some things you're not thankful for but in an adverse circumstance you can be thankful in it for the hand of god through it and the strength of god for it and god's sovereignty above it all amen and everything give thanks for this is the will of god in christ jesus concerning you you want to know the will of god and everything give thanks that is always the will of god now now i read about the wrath of god i you know that that really terrible opening line of our text today and i want to show you the people in romans chapter one and i want you to take a look at them and what caused the ingratitude of their lives the book of romans is a theological and literary masterpiece and in the first three chapters of romans paul serves as a a spiritual prosecuting attorney on behalf of god and he brings all the world into the courtroom so that they may be found guilty before god he brings the pagans the jews he brings everyone and at somewhat of a high point of this passage in romans 3 19 paul writes now we know that whatever the law says it says to them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before god amen you may remember romans 3 23 for all have sinned and come short of the glory of god he is establishing that there is not one person whether they have a religious background or not that can please god and their own ability that all the world may become guilty before god in romans 1 paul takes on the pagan people of the world he will get to the jews later but in romans 1 he talks about people who did not have a religious background who did not grow up with a bible they did not have any of the advantages that the jews had they were truly pagan people and it's a fascinating look at people who decline morally because of their wrong response to god paul said that the wrath of god is revealed against them they've got some knowledge of god but they are holding this truth in unrighteousness they know better but they're not doing better and god is against them he says that that which may be known of god is manifest in them there's a conscience that god created inside of you you're made in the image and likeness of god and these pagan people while they didn't have a bible they had a conscience and this conscience could have been cultivated it could have caused him to draw near to god and feel after him and find him as paul told the athenians but in the middle of that their conscience did not grow but they seem to have seared their conscience and cut it off they had equal access to every sunset every sunrise they could see the constellations of the stars they knew that the sun was put there by someone and the intelligent design of the universe demanded an intelligent designer but romans 1 20 says for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made in other words the visible world points to the invisible world everything you can see points to something invisible that the mighty invisible hand of god the word of god spoke it into existence paul said that you can look at nature and you can learn about god his eternal power and godhead and paul said they were without excuse but you say they didn't have a bible they didn't have parents in church they didn't have a sunday school teacher paul said they are without excuse psalm 19 says that the heavens declare the glory of god and the firmament shows his handiwork that night in the night utterance speech and day in the day utters knowledge there is no place where their voice or language is not heard in other words when when the moon comes up at night it is preaching there is a god when the sun comes up in the morning it is preaching there is a god when the divinely ordered universe it works the way god made it work it is saying there is a god in heaven and paul says god revealed himself in their conscience god revealed himself to creation they knew god they did not know him by the bible they didn't understand that god so loved the world they didn't understand repent of your sins but they knew there must be a god this is called general revelation it is enough knowledge to condemn you it is not not enough knowledge to save you it's enough to let you know that there is a god and you should as paul wrote feel after him and find him though he be not far from every one of us but this downward spiral of the people that paul describes in romans 1 is predictable throughout history the people who reject the knowledge of god who do not like to retain god in their knowledge you push him away they always they inevitably spiral downward let me just pause right here that when you know to do good and you don't do it to you it is a sin when you see something in the bible and you reject it instead of embrace it you are doing just what these pagan people did when they rejected the god of nature and the god of conscience we are without excuse so that's really not part of my message nor did i say that this morning but there it is paul tells us what happens to them i'll paraphrase it he said their minds became dark and confused they claimed to be wise but they became fools instead of worshiping the living god they worship idols that they made with their very own hands they became a god creating a god with no demands if you make up your own god that god can tell you anything you want him to tell you that's what happened with the golden calf and false worship inevitably leads to immorality that is just where it goes idolatry leads to immorality instead of worshiping god they worship these abe these idols and then the bible says as a result of that that god abandoned them the king james said he gave them up it wasn't just that they were wandering away because they didn't want him and were walking away it kind of implies he gave them a little shove along the way you don't want me i'll abandon you to go and do the things that you want to do that are immoral perverted inconvenient the bible says they became grossly immoral new living translation in this past they did vile and degrading things with each other's bodies they exchange the truth for a lie worship the created thing rather than the creator and then he goes into some vivid language that i will spare you today but he speaks of homosexual relationships first women with women and then men with men receiving the consequences of those kinds of sins and then the bible said that since they thought that it was foolish to acknowledge god he gave them up again he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done and paul even goes on and says that there is more that they did that i may refer to a little bit later in my message but but i want you to wind this back what caused this what was the root cause of all of this perversion and immorality and say well it was just you know it was their home life it was an absent father or was this or that and i recognize social drivers of sin but paul said that inherently these people knew god in conscience they saw god in nature but that god has demands that god calls you to relationship he has an expectation of holiness and righteousness because the nature reveals the righteousness and holiness of god that's what romans says they did not want this kind of god so what was it the bible tells us in romans 21 121 that when they knew god they knew god in conscience they knew god through nature they glorified him not as god they just pulled him down from where he was and who he was because if god created the son and you worship the sun instead of the creator of the sun you've made a little god a small g that you can please by doing anything you want you can write your own script they did not acknowledge him as the god that he was and because of this they went downward downward it was it was undeniable to their conscience it was an irrefutable evidence in nature but he just they just decided that even though we see him even though we feel him we will not recognize him because we don't want a god of moral purity so this is the path they chose look at this verse again romans 1 21 here's your thanksgiving phrase because that when they knew god how conscience nature okay they glorified him not as god neither were thankful now that that sounds like well that's not that big of a deal you forgot you know you got a birthday present you forgot to say thank you is that something you're going to go to hell over you know we teach our children say thank you say please be polite what's the big deal about neither were thankful but then they became vain in their imaginations and as a result of that their foolish heart was darkened instead of having the light of the knowledge of god and understanding god now they're putting the dimmer switch on god by not acknowledging him and not thanking him as the giver of every good thing amen it's in my notes later but james said that every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and it comes down from this father of lights with him there's no variable to see the shadow of turning they looked up and they saw god and they said we don't want to know that kind of a god and if we thank him for life and breath and all things if we thank him for fruitful seasons as paul writes about in acts 14 luke writes the words of paul in acts 14 if we see god like that then we're obligated to him so we don't want to know him and we're certainly not going to thank him because if we thank him then we have to admit that we're not self-made and we're not really that smart we're not that good we don't possess all these abilities in ourselves but everything we have and everything we are is a gift from a gracious god who gave us a mind to think and gave us talents to use and gave us a work ethic and gave us an understanding it all comes from him that's why to be thankful to god is to recognize who he is and what he means in our lives [Applause] amen [Applause] i realize i realize that sometimes when you're saying grace or the blessing over your feet you may not be fully engaged in what you're saying but it's a good practice to recognize that every time you have the ability and the means to put something in your mouth every time you put a little fuel in your gas tank that you realize that god gave you the means the ability to work for that money and he blessed you with the job he gave you that it all came from him and apart from him you are nothing there is nothing at all [Applause] paul wrote to timothy that in the last days perilous times would come dangerous times he said men would be lovers of their own selves love me not him they would be covetous wanting everything boasters proud blasphemers disobedient to parents un thankful why why is that in this list of these terrible sins terrible sins like being disobedient to your parents yeah an extension of god's authority right and they would be unholy why is unthankful here as a symptom of the last days it was symptomatic of the pagans who walked away from god and an entire entire civilizations who were godless who were ungodly and immoral who did not acknowledge him as god neither were thankful and paul said in the last days those same ungrateful attitudes will prevail but the root cause is not just a lack of gratitude the root causes a lack of recognizing who god is that is sovereign that he is the lord of everything including our lives amen romans 1 makes this assertion you can think about this that all of these evil sins these terrible sins come out of a denial of god's existence and a refusal to thank god as the giver of every good thing amen apocalypse some more and i just want to kind of just scan through them so you can see that it's not just this terrible immoral behavior but there are other symptoms of denying god's existence and not being grateful to him paul says new living translation they abandoned god and all this wickedness they had sin and greed and hate they had invert envy murder quarreling they were deceptive malicious they were gossipers they were backstabbers hating god insolent proud boastful inventing ways of sinning inventors of sinful things and disobedient to parents refusing to understand you know isn't it one thing to say i don't understand but these people refused to understand they saw god they knew god but they refused to say they understood god sometimes people don't understand because they don't want to understand because if they understand then there has to be a response to that you're accountable for what you understand so it's better to say i don't understand you do understand enough about god to repent of your sins and turn your life over to his lordship you do know enough about god to change your attitude and be grateful to him anyway they break their promises they're heartless they have no mercy they know god's justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die but they do them anyway and worse yet they encourage others to do the same all of that is in romans 1 and all of that source it back that they knew god in conscience in nature not through the bible they didn't even have a bible yet but they denied the existence of god and because they denied that he existed they refused to be thankful to a god that they pretended was not there at all being unthankful sets you on a path away from god and toward a world of sin and hurt amen those are the consequences of in of in gratitude so so what is this what is the therapy of thanksgiving the therapy of thanksgiving is that thanking god for who he is and what he does changes everything in your life changes everything thankfulness sets you free from the stress from the prison of unrealistic expectations it allows you to trust god in every circumstance it allows you to be thankful for every little gift and not to be disappointed because you expected a corvette that you got a chevette do you know what that is you expected this and and you got this and now you can be grateful for what you got because you're so upset and angry because you didn't get what you dreamed you could have you thought you were someone's dream and you turned out to be someone's nightmare and they're still grateful if they're godly you can check my notes after church that's nowhere there i am a confessed perfectionist i don't say it proudly i admit it and i jokingly say i'm a recovering perfectionist so whatever you think a 10 is my 10 is even higher than that i'm not bragging that's my personality so i understand my nature a little bit that i expect 10 i want to be way up here whether it's preaching or a service or a goal or whatever it is but i've had to learn that in life life doesn't always deliver a tent to me i don't always deliver a tent to god or anybody else but i am going to be thankful for everything that god does for me i'm going to be thankful for every little blessing for everything that didn't come in like i expected because god knows me and loves me and he's working in me through that it is not it is not what about it's not about what you got or what you didn't get it is about the attitude that underlies gratitude amen that says thank you lord and i'm just gonna say it now that on your worst day or the darkest midnight of your life when everything has gone wrong for you you can say thank you lord that my name is written in heaven that no one can pluck me out of your hand that you have promised me eternal life and when everything goes down i know one day i'm going up because you have given me so great salvation would you stand right now would you lift your hands to the lord and would you thank him for being the giver of every good gift hallelujah thank you jesus i'm not trying to make a case for mediocrity or low goals i'm setting the by heart for thankfulness that will heal your attitudes in your spirit it will make you a much more lovable person because a porridge is almost always too hot or too cold very seldom just right no day i've ever lived on planet earth has been a perfect day but i serve a perfect god thanksgiving focuses on the giver rather than the gift thanksgiving frees you to have peace in times of trouble thanksgiving allows you to have comfort in times of loss thanksgiving frees you to trust god when life does not make sense [Music] prevents you from charging god foolishly you see thankfulness the therapy of thanksgiving it's more than what you say that's how you see god and the lens through which you view life yourself and other people when you are thankful you acknowledge that he's a good god and everything he's ever done as james said it here it is in my notes james 1 17. every good gift and every perfect gift is from above it comes down from the father of lights with whom there is no variableness neither shadow when you live a life of thanksgiving you really believe what the bible says romans 8 28 and we know i don't always feel but i always know that all things work together for good you know it doesn't say all things are good from our perspective but all things work together for good to them that love god to them who are called according to his purpose [Music] i'm going to invite you to come to the altar in just a moment as you do i want you to count your blessings name them one by one like we used to sing about but more than trying to quantify or qualify or try to list those things i'd like for you to take the mixed bag of life the bitter and the sweet the naomi experiences of your life i want you to give them up to god say lord through all of this in this fallen sinful evil world and perfect as it is you have never done me anything but good would you acknowledge him as god and would you be thankful let's gather at this altar now if you're able to come [Music] thank you jesus [Music] as you're coming i want to speak to you i've never seen a person receive the gift of the holy ghost griping [Music] grumbling [Music] even really repenting it's after they repent that they begin to praise god and thank him that the spirit of the lord comes into that vessel in acts chapter 2 the bible said they heard them speak the wonderful works of god and as you begin to speak the wonderful works of god you can receive the gift of the holy ghost today you can be strengthened in the spirit today it can be a brand new day for you amen and i really want to ask you to not spend a lot of time beating yourself up for how bad you've been or how much you've failed or how much you've not lived up to this message that's why the lord inspired me to preach it to help this be a brand new day for you to adopt a brand new attitude to have a whole new outlook of gratitude toward the lord why don't you let there be a therapy that comes into you a healing that comes from thanksgiving let's lift our voices again to the lord i encourage you to pray with someone near you now [Music] that's it thank you jesus for being my savior from sin and giving me eternal life thank you lord for being my provider for all my needs [Music] [Applause] for my god shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by christ jesus thank you for being my healer thank you lord for giving comfort and sorrow thank you for being my help o lord in time of need thank you lord for being the strong tower that i can run to and be safe thank you lord for being my strong rock thank you lord for being a shelter thank you lord for being my friend my lord and my god let jesus touch you now [Music] is thank you jesus [Music] that's it pray with someone near you now let god help you let jesus help you change your perspective [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] we are [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] thank you jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] tonight [Applause] [Music] is [Music] through [Applause] [Music] [Applause] now [Applause] [Music] [Applause] we are [Music] [Applause] [Music] i feel a spirit of prayer in this house right now but you just gather in groups of family members of friends and would you pray would you really pray we need the strength of the lord this season of life [Music] there are people here that need a miracle we pray for healing for strength for comfort we're praying that to pray pray fervently for someone near you now [Music] get your voice in prayer [Music] thank you thank you [Music] is [Music] [Applause] god [Music] [Applause] jesus thank you [Music] thank you jesus [Music] thank you [Music] hello [Music] [Applause] oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] we are [Music] is [Music] oh [Applause] my [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] jesus [Music] you jesus [Music] if you've never been baptized in the name of the lord jesus christ for the remission of sins i talked about repentance today that first step toward god water baptism is that second step that identifies you with the burial of jesus christ you die with him in repentance you're buried with him by baptism into his death and just like jesus was raised up from the dead by the glory of the father the bible said you will also rise to walk in the newness of life i want you to have that new life i want you to have the power to live that life so until you die and are buried to the old you can't give birth to the new so that's why we make a big deal out of being baptized in water by immersion in the name of the lord jesus christ now we have people ready to baptize you today we have changing rooms we have garments warm clean water towels the whole everything all we can't do is repent for you and say yes but if you'll just tell someone near you hey i want to be baptized today i need to be baptized today i'll guide you to our baptistery team and we'll baptize you today but i also wanted to give an appeal right now if you need you really need a touch of god in your life whether it is for physical healing or some other particular thing you don't have to name what that is but if you need a miracle in your life i want you to just step up to the front of the altar we're just going to pray as a church but this is just acknowledging i really need a touch from the lord amen just come stand across the front we're going to gather behind church family is amen if you're able to lay hands on them and anoint them with oil some of our ministers elders do that amen [Music] is there any sick among you let them call for the elders of the church let them pray over them anointing them with oil in the name of the lord the prayer of faith shall save the sick the lord shall raise them up they committed any sins they'll be forgiven them we're not here because of that but god does even that amen you need prayer looking where we need some more people just to come and gather to pray with that's it just comfortable to do this nobody is the spiritual guru we're the body of christ we need the prayers of one another amen let's pray would you maybe stretch your hands reach your faith lay hands on these that are here for prayer today [Music] that's right in the name of jesus christ [Music] hallelujah [Music] the prayer of faith shall save the sake lord [Music] i pray god against sickness let it be like that sycamore tree from the victory that withered from the ground the roots of i pray that you would curse sickness today remove the symptoms but god i pray that he would heal at the source [Music] lord i pray that you miraculously provide those needing a financial miracle today i pray that you would heal sickness today [Music] jesus in your name [Applause] thank you lord god [Music] that's it let healing flow through your hands let healing come from your faith in god he is the head of the body that we are the body and healing flows through the body [Music] so now let's thank the lord and that healing is flowing in the body of christ healing is flowing in the body of christ healing through and through spirit soul body true and true [Applause] [Music] better let's praise him a while let's thank him what a great god he is [Music] thank him thank him he is the giver the source of every good and perfect gift [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] there [Music] that calls is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] no [Music] then [Music] the [Applause] there is [Music] through [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] the love [Music] the through [Music] you