Sleeping in Church | Sr Pastor Kenneth Carpenter

if you have your bibles and would be so kind to stand in honor of the reading of god's great word i invite your attention to the book of acts chapter number 20 verse number seven of course we know that acts is an abbreviation and the full title for the book of acts is the actions the actions of the apostles would like to say that we are certainly missing brother and sister erickson tonight they are away at a leadership conference and i spoke to brother erickson before church tonight and he was just telling me of the great things the great things that are being poured in him by men that are very gifted in leadership brother terry shock and brother galen walters pouring in to brother sister erickson uh leadership tools and they're going to bring them back home and help us to to to build the net brother brother lee to help us to build the net for the harvest that this church is going to have they tell me sunday night sunday night a conservative number and they said brother carpenter this is a conservative number but they said that we have had somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 000 people come through the parking lot on sunday night here at the church isn't that awesome and i think i thank god i thank god for that acts chapter 20 and verse number 7 upon the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread paul preached unto them ready to depart on the morrow and continued his speech until midnight and there were many lights in the upper chamber where they were gathered together and they're set in a window a certain young man named uticus being fallen into a deep sleep and as paul was long preaching he sunk down with sleep and fell down from the third loft and was taken up dead and paul went down and fell on him and embracing him said trouble not yourselves where his life is in him and when he therefore was come up again and had broken bread and eaten and talked a long while even till break of day so he departed they brought the young man alive and were not a little comforted that sounds like they wasn't very happy but it means exactly opposite they were extremely happy that this young man was alive and with them tonight on a minister to on a subject sleeping in church all right sleeping in church father i love you i thank you lord for all your love and mercy that you've shown toward us thank you lord for the great history of the first century church thank you lord for the book of acts that helps us understand what the church of the 21st century should look like i ask you god tonight that you would anoint my mind and anoint my heart help me to feed your people help us to ever grow in our desire to live for you in jesus name we pray and everybody said amen you may be seated there are two r's there are two r's that i want to focus my life upon i want my family to be a family of revival i don't want this beautiful apostolic truth to ever grow old in the carpenter lineage never want it to grow old in the carpenter lineage and the only way that it stays alive is that my family continually lives with revival on their lips they want revival they want to be revived the next r that i want to ever keep before us is a rapture i want my family to focus on two r's revival and rapture i began to study this story made up of a few verses and of course you understand that nothing is put in the bible by an accident nothing is just there to fill up pages it's there for our learning it's there for us to to look at it's there for us to embrace now when we think about the church in the book of acts i know what we all go to we all go to uh peter's 10-minute sermon on the day of pentecost we all go to fire and tongues and baptisms and miracles and we we we go to that but also in that book with fire and tongues and miracles is also some history about that church and chapter 20 verse 7 through 12 tells a little bit of that history it wasn't all fiery sermons by the looks of this there were times the church got together for some long sermons from paul said it tonight said he talked all night and i don't know but don't nobody get nervous now right don't we want to be apostolic but don't get nervous on me talks about a a time they went to church and they were having communion and paul was going to be leaving the next day so he took every advantage of the time because he would be leaving them doesn't seem like any of them were in a hurry to go this was way back before the clock had anything to do with the church they came to hear the word of the lord and paul came to give the word of the lord but there was a certain young man and i don't want to paint him in a real bad light because he did have a desire to be there he he eutychus had a desire to be there don't don't don't forget that whole statement as i go through this story the young man had a desire to be there but something something happened something happened evidently they met to the best we can study out they met at one of the members houses that must have been very wealthy there's some speculation as to who it was but this person had to be a very wealthy person to be able to afford a house a three three-story house a three-story house now the bible says it tells us that when they met together that evening that there were many lights there were many lights verse 8 in the upper chamber there were many many lights i did a little research because i don't think things are just there just to be there and i i discovered to where the early church first in fear of persecution met in dark places to worship they met in caves they met in the darkness of coves they met in dark places where they were not easily discovered but with this meeting in their dark places with this meeting in their dark places they soon fell under accusation from the pagans that they were really meeting in the dark so that they could commit all kind of lewdness with themselves and they were really not meeting there to worship god but they were meeting there to cover their lewdness and their sexual sins so the church counteracted this in that they would begin to bring lights with them that wherever they were at worshiping god it would be a place that would be well lit they wanted everyone to know that their lives were above reproach and they wanted to to light the room up very well the bible now tells us that there was not only the length of paul's sermon and the purpose for why they are there and the condition of the room being very well lit but now verse 9 turns the attention to a young man who sat in the window a young man who sat in the window now once again once again i want to applaud him that at least he had the desire to come to church at least he had that desire he said in the window why he said in the window would be my speculation but i believe that more than likely with the room being full of lights with people that it might have been a little stuffy in the middle of the room with only a window there there may not have been a lot of air circulation so he wanted to find him a place of comfort he wanted to be in the church he wanted to hear paul preach he wanted to celebrate communion he was a lover of jesus christ but he simply wanted to find him a comfortable spot in the room a window has to be in a wall a wall is the extremity of the building so now we know that his position is on the extremes of what is going on in the room the bible says that as paul was long preaching that this young man fell asleep now let's don't judge him too harshly he that be without sin cast the first stone all right you see we have the first record we we baptize we baptize in jesus name it's recorded in the book of acts we have the recorded first man that ever fell asleep in church in the book of acts and many have followed him since amen it's just the truth he fell asleep and when he fell asleep he fell from the third loft and was taken up he was taken up for dead paul went down and the bible says that paul went down and fell on him and embraced him can just kind of break off on a little trail tonight if there's something that you want to you want to come back to life in your life why don't you fall on it and embrace it pull it close to you when something that has once been alive is now dead instead of making a tombstone why don't you just fall on it and embrace it could be a relationship with god it could be a marriage could be a relationship with a child could be a relationship with a brother or sister sibling but paul fell down and embraced him and when he embraced him he stood with good news he said his life is yet within him some time later we don't know the time sometime later up the stairs the young man came and into the room the bible doesn't say he went back to the window but into the room and a praise and a worship broke out now i understand tonight because i too i too have been in times and places to wear at church i physically was fighting to stay awake all right you may be seated so i'm not talking about physical sleep i personally think when people have ever told me can you believe brother so-and-so is sleeping and my response is i'm just thankful they're here you got to give them a hand that they're at least here i'm just thankful they're here but i'm not going to talk about physical sleep tonight because that's one thing but spiritually asleep is really what i want to talk about tonight spiritual sleep men who are asleep to the great opportunities of the church that young man asleep in that window and i think any any preacher that's here tonight any pastor anyone watching online tonight ought to take great comfort if they would fall asleep under the ministry of the apostle paul who are we they fell asleep under paul's ministry but when that young man fell asleep look at the opportunities that he was missing out on to be spiritually asleep to be physically here and to be spiritually asleep is what you should fear the most because it is possible to be physically here tonight but spiritually sound asleep you want to be here but you want to be comfortable if you're here you want to be in the church but you don't want to be smack dab in the middle of the church you want to find you a place in the church that you can feel the breezes of the world on one side of your face while enjoying the glow of the presence of god on the other oh it happens it happens so often we are battling we are fighting for times of focus uh concentration times of just getting alone with god times of of just getting aggravated that we think we got to keep these little small things called cell phones with us at all times you see years ago if the enemy wanted to disrupt a service he could lead some drunk to stagger in the back door and holler something and generations of years gone by have testimonies of drunk staggering in the church and hollering out well the devil doesn't have to send drunks anymore he has these small devices called cell phones and while we're sitting here with a bible in our lab some of us have a cell phone in our lab too and we're able to stay in touch with the outside world while wanting to be in touch with god but can i tell you the extremities of the church is a very dangerous place to want to live because this young man succumbed to sleep i don't want to miss out on the great opportunities that the church gives the church gives great opportunities but you've got to be awake to hear them you've got to be awake to recognize them there's great opportunities that are in the church but sleep can rob you sleep can rob you of the opportunity the lord needed something to my bible knowledge jesus did not ask for much for himself personally but there was one occasion that he literally had the world on his shoulders and in matthew chapter 26 and verse 30 36 he asked for something he wasn't known to ask his disciples but on this night he needed them for the dean he needed them on this night of all the years he lived on this earth as a man he needed peter james and john on this night 36 says then cometh jesus with them into a place called gethsemane and saith unto the disciples sit you here while i go and pray yonder and he took with him peter and the two sons of zebedee and begin to be sorrowful and very heavy then saith he unto them listen to what he's going to ask my soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death carry ye here and watch with me would you just watch with me i i need to go and pray but i would like to have some kind of a confidence that somebody's watching for me i i i need i need you i i don't ask you for much would you just care to stay here and watch and watch with me can you imagine years later what they could have said could you imagine years later what they could have thought about themselves we were there for the lord when he needed us he needed us to watch we were there for him but can i tell you sleep will rob you of the opportunity of hearing the voice of god say tonight i need you he went a little further 39 and fell on his face and prayed saying oh my father if it be possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless not as i will but as thou will now we know from one other scripture that it was not just a class hand kneeling it was a shaking sweating savior whose sweat became his great drops of blood he's praying if it would be possible that this cup pass from me but nevertheless not as i will but as that will but look at verse 40 he cometh unto his disciples and findeth them asleep and saith unto peter what could you not watch with me one hour now i'm i want to ask the question why did he come back to them was it to get a little comfort because i know at times when we have the weight of the world upon us as god's people what do we enjoy doing getting together with other believers isn't it a joy to have somebody's hand placed on your back and they're praying for you i wonder brother hammond if jesus wasn't coming back to peter james and john to find some kind of comfort in this hour but when he came back he found them asleep could you not pray could you not watch with me just one hour watch and pray that you are not into temptation the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak he went again he went away again the second time and prayed oh my father this cup may not pass away from me except i drink it thy will and he came verse 43 and he came and found them asleep again for their eyes were heavy and he left them and went away and prayed the third time saying the same words then cometh he to his disciples and saith unto them look at verse 45 seep on now sleep on now just go ahead and sleep on now i'm going to tell you something today is the day of salvation today is the day of opportunity if jesus christ has ever needed the church he needs it now don't let sleep rob you of that don't let sleep you can be here in the house of god and god be saying would you do this would you do that but spiritual sleep deadens your ear to him but oh i don't want to hear that day when he simply says just go ahead and sleep on you had your time you had your opportunity sleep robs us from that opportunity not only that sleep also robs us of the opportunity of forming relationships with people of light precious faith can i tell you that spiritual sleep will rob you from developing a relationship that you cannot put a price on i'm talking about a relationship with your brothers and your sisters in the house of god it is a greater relationship than your co-workers on your job it is even a greater relationship than your family members that are not born again don't allow the enemy just to say i go to that church hey you need to have some opportunities to forge some tremendous friendships that are within the church that are within the church the bible says in proverbs 27 17 the bible says in proverbs 27 17 iron sharpeneth iron so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend now watch this now iron sharpeneth iron you better believe it if we're going to have precious relationships sometimes there's sometimes there's friction and sparks fly but i can say tonight i can say without any doubt in my mind i am a better man tonight because i have iron sharpened iron with other people in this church i'm a better person god has no long rangers god has no superheroes there's parts of you that will never be developed until you understand the opportunity of that person sitting just to cross you or in front of you somehow there can be wonderful relationships that are forged but sleep will rob you of those relationships not only that not only that but sleep will cause you to allow sinful habits and evil lifestyles to go on in your life it will allow it will allow you to come and you heard it you hear it you know what the bible says but sleep allows you just to kind of ignore that part of the sermon oh you remember when pastor got on something that you felt like fit the guy over here on this side some of us got great hearing when it comes to somebody else getting preached too but a sinful habit in your heart and an evil heart an evil act something you think is covered up it's amazing how sleep this is why we've got to be we got to be on our guard about sleep because sleep can rob us of really changing the way that we live we need to watch sleep because sleep has a way sleep has a way of changing a church service into entertainment we are not here to be entertained we are not here to be entertained i thank god for all the modern technology but we are not here to be entertained come on choir of 150 members but they're not up here to entertain me come on praise singers come on lights come on all of this but none of this is here to entertain us just as sure as you allowed a sleep to come upon you church becomes all about entertaining me oh i like that preacher he was funny oh i like that guy he told a lot of stories oh i really got into that oh i really like this oh i really like that song that was a song they sang at mama's funeral oh i really get mood when they sing that song we get entertainment and almost spiritually we have a remote control at our pews that we just fast forward through the songs and through the sermon and i'm not alone in the book of ezekiel chapter 33 verse number four listen to this this is ezekiel the prophet this is ezekiel the prophet ezekiel 33 and verse 4 or excuse me yes ezekiel 33 and verse 4. then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet and taketh not warning if the sword come and take him away his blood shall be upon his own head he heard the sound of the trumpet look at verse the five he heard the sound of the trumpet he heard the sound of the trumpet and took not warning his blood shall be upon him but he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul it's possible to hear the sound of preaching but to be asleep spiritually in it not registered it's possible to hear the sounds of preaching to hear my voice but not register in your soul what this voice is trying to tell you to do i'm sorry but i had some scriptures that were down about what the people said about ezekiel and god even said this is what the people say behind the wall this is what they say behind the wall or better put this is what they're saying behind your back they are saying that you are like a good musician you are like a lovely song that is sung but at the end of the day they do nothing about what you say in other words if i could bring it down ezekiel you're nothing but an entertainer keep my attention just dazzle them pull another rabbit out of the hat brothers and sisters tonight i'm not here to entertain you i'm here to have revival and to get you ready for the rapture of the church i want to be your best friend i want you to like me but at the end of the day i don't want you to like me at the expense of not being in a relationship with the lord jesus christ wake up church wake up don't sleep don't sleep it's dangerous to sleep the book of judges chapter number four some people are asleep because they are very confident of themselves they are very confident of themselves they're confident in what they have done they're confident in what they're doing they're confident in their job they're confident in their wealth all the while danger lurks around i introduce you tonight to a man of the book of judges chapter 4 verse number 18 a mighty warrior by the name of sisera cicero's name struck fear through the heart of every israelite but cicero entered a battle one time and let's pick the battle up at verse number 18. judges 4 and 18. and jl she was this woman and jael went out to meet cicero and said unto him turn in my lord turn into me fear not and when he had turned into her into the tent she covered him with a mantle and he said unto her give me i pray be a little water to drink for i am thirsty she opened a bottle of milk and gave him drink and covered him again he said unto her now watch this man he said unto her stand in the door of the tent and it shall be when any man doth come and inquire of thee and say is there any man here that thou shalt say no watch what a false confidence breathes in this man you see being asleep being asleep breathes a false confidence that you have in yourself there's so many people that have said this it'll never happen to me oh it'll never happen to me oh oh i heard about those kids got cold on god and got on drugs and got into the penitentiary but it'll never happen to me that's a false confidence oh it'll never happen to me my wife and i who it will ever never happen to us you better be careful because sleeping in church can breed a false confidence about you and cecil he got uh cicero got a false confidence he said he's got everything situated he's got somebody at the door watching for him that's going to say no and then watch what happens in verse 21. 21 then j l heber's wife took a nail of the tent and took a hammer in her hand and went softly unto him and smote the nail into his temples and fastened it into the ground how in the world does a frail jewish woman overtake a strong warrior like cicero how in the world is a little frail woman not with a sword and shield not with some kind of slingshot but a tent peg and a hammer how does she fasten it through one side of his head goes all the way through his head out the other side but not even just in one side and out the other side of his head but nails it to the ground how did this happen well the next verse tells us the next verse tells us and fastened it to the ground look at this for he was fast asleep and weary and so he died i am telling you what we must fear is never before is being spiritually asleep when we come into the house of god being spiritually asleep and the lord dealt with me this week a little bit about this brother nolan he dealt with me i'm not saying i'm not going to do it again because the lord didn't tell me not to do it again he just told me he just spoke to me and he said this is what this breeds a lot of times when we ask someone put your hand over on someone else and pray for them now that's we do that and i'm not saying i'm not going to do it again but you shouldn't wait to call on god on somebody else's hand i mean somewhere you grow up to where mama doesn't have to wake you up with an alarm clock somewhere you got to understand this is life and this is death this is not playing around above all else we must be saved above all else we must be saved and maybe for a little while i'm not going to say lay your hand over on somebody else maybe i'm just going to say why don't you open your mouth up and why don't you begin to call out on god because at the end of the day it's you that has to be saved you're the one that has to be saved how does a little frail jewish woman bring down a mighty sisera it's easy he was asleep mighty people are brought down on this little thing called sleep i read where a man once had a dream and in his dream he saw a church building and he saw one devil asleep on the rooftop in the dream he was then taken to a small cabin which was surrounded by a company of evil spirits hundreds of them buzzing about the windows and the doors when he asked the lord for an explanation the lord said this he said one devil is sufficient to look after a sleeping church but give me one man in a small cabin on his knees praying and i'll have to send out a whole legion to stop him can i tell you tonight the enemy loves to get you to sleep he loves to rock you to sleep maybe we shouldn't just be looking for things on television and preaching stay out of this place and stay out of that place maybe the sound of the trumpet tonight is wake up wake up get get away get awake wake up spiritually be awake spiritually oh i hope the devil has to send an army of legion around my house because there's one praying person i went on further and read about this man in his dreams he said he dreamed of being in the throne room of hell and he said he watched demons come up and one demon gave a report to satan and said there was a bunch of christians worshiping in a house and i'll cause the wind to blow the house collapsed and killed them all are you not happy he said no i'm not happy because you just destroyed their bodies but their souls went to be with god another demon came up and he said there was a bunch of christians on a boat and i caused the wind to turn them over and drown them all and once again the devil said no i'm not happy for only their bodies were destroyed and their souls were god was god's but one demon came forth and he said i have lawed to sleep a pastor and when he said those words satan ordered every musician to begin to play and all of hell rejoiced because one preacher was lawed to sleep can i tell you tonight it's dangerous to sleep in church samson you fell asleep in the lap of the wrong one you fell asleep in the lap of the wrong one let me invite your attention now i i saw where i put these scriptures down a little count at the bottom of my notes but ezekiel chapter 33 and verse number 30. ezekiel 33 and verse 30. also son of man also thou son of man the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses and speak one to another every one to his brother saying come i pray you hear what is the word that cometh forth from the lord and they come unto thee as the people cometh and they sit before thee as my people and they hear thy words but they will not do them for with their mouth they show much love but their heart go up after their covetousness and lo thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument for they hear thy words but they do them not and he and and when this cometh to pass lo it will come then shall they know that a prophet hath men among them god i'm not here tonight to be entertained god i'm here to take these two hands and lift them right now i'm here to lift my mouth i'm here to live my voice tonight god and entertain you with my praise and with my worship come on church wake up your praise right now oh how long's it been since you just praised him loud enough that you could hear yourself praise him oh how long has it been since you've lifted your hands both of them how long's it been since you lifted up your voice come on shake yourself hell hopes you don't wake up hell hopes that you just keep coming and hearing the sermon but you've got to shake yourself tonight come on wake yourself up right now wake yourself up with the praise right now wake yourself up with praise come on praise him right now come on praise him right now praise him right now praise him right now praise him praise him right now praise him right now church wake yourself up shake yourself oh god shut up i i got to wake you up i got to wake up i can't sleep like this i can't just come to church i can't just wait to be entertained i got to shake myself i don't want to sleep oh god lord i uh i have read some history i read some history of napoleon he lost the battle in russia he attacked at the wrong time he attacked in the middle of winter the diaries would later tell that a lot of his soldiers froze to death but the diaries also would tell about when you're freezing to death that what happens to you as you begin to get drowsy and you go to sleep and you die and the only way the only way of survival is to fight drowsiness to fight sleep but a diary that i i read in history said that napoleon had put me in to do nothing but go up and down the line and tell people wake up soldier wake up soldier get up soldier wake up soldier you got to use a moving soldier and said some of those soldiers would get so mad that they would spend their last energy jabbing a dagger at the man leave me alone leave me alone for for the love of god leave me alone i just want to take a few minutes rest i just want no sir it'll be for your life get up and and they would begin to fight the very man that was trying to keep them away i'm going to tell you one sign of spiritual sleep is you fight the very people that's trying to help you you begin to fight oh well i wish you'd just leave me alone i wish that preacher would get off my back you better pray to god i never get off your back you you better you better pray to god you better say god i hope he stays on my back i hope i stay on your back if you decide to go to hell i hope i stay on your back and feel the flames of hell just before i jump off i hope i stay on your back so you need to get up you need to get up come on sir don't sit there come on lady don't sit there come on church don't sit here come on you got to get up the hour's late the rapture's coming the love of many's growing cold you gotta you gotta stay awake don't sleep don't sleep don't sleep but let me show you let's go back to acts chapter 20 and verse number nine let's show you something that just jumped out to me today acts 20 and verse nine look at it closely with me would you please and there sat in the window eudus uticus before eutychus lay on the ground dead before eutychus lay on the ground dead he first sat in the window of the church inactive he sat in the window he's inactive i don't know about you i've seen the church over the last four decades of being in the ministry i've seen a change in the church certainly have i've seen a change in the church several changes and i've seen i i i started preaching in a time i started preaching in a time when if you were in a congregation of 50 or 100 and two people got up and walked out it was noticeable we now live in a day when when in and out at church is just something that people do now i'm very careful about this i'm going to tell you why there are people that have physical issues that need to go to the restroom and it's those people that really take this to heart and it's people that don't think one thing of just getting up meandering through the light they just got bored knowing what they're really doing is sleepwalking well brother carpenter you just don't keep my attention i understand maybe it's what channel you're on i mean anyone that's trying to tell you how to stay in a relationship with someone that you should be loving with all your heart all your soul and all your mind i mean i'm not up here trying to sell you avon or kentucky fried chicken i'm not up here on a pyramid scheme or something i'm trying to tell you we need revival because the rapture is coming you gotta you you don't don't get in well i go to alia i've had i've been preaching long enough i've been preaching long enough i remember the day when you asked everybody to come to the altar everybody came to the altar but nowadays we fight this well i can serve god back here in the pew god can hear me just as good and and after all the the floors got a little slope to it and and i have a little issue you know dollywood's got mountains and hills you go to but but we live i've seen the the changing the the changing of this and we either have to accept it that one day it's going to be that we no longer use our altars but i say no i say one way to stay on fire for god is to stay around the fireplace that you got the fire and that's the altar i was told when i got the holy ghost over 40 years ago that if you want to keep the holy ghost help somebody else pray through to the holy ghost that's what i was told i was told if you want to keep it alive then get up around the altar and help somebody else and don't you know that i got a mini of refilling getting somebody else filled with the holy ghost don't sleep church no sleep church he sat in the window of being inactive he was inactive he sat in the window of do nothing he said in the window of i'm just here you know that's something we all can do that's something we all can do and and i'm not i'm nowhere near this right now in my life but if i see that dear coming i'm going to tell you what i want to do there may come a day when i'm not physically able to carry the mail i'm not physically able to do this but i i want to be a i want to be a former pastor that gets here early and just walks up and down these aisles and prays and ask god to touch this service i may not have the mentality that i had in my 40s and 50s and 60s it may be kind of scattered but oh god may always be found doing something you can do something i said you can do something if you're elderly you can't pray you can't pray for god to anoint the service you can do something we all need to do something before utica has ever hit the ground dead he first sat in the window enacted there's something the bible says whatever your hand look at ecclesiastes 9 verse number 10. ecclesiastes 9 verse number 10. i wish we'd just read it all out loud together and i wish we would read it loud enough that we can hear ourselves read it all right i'll begin whatsoever thy hand find it to do do it with thy might for there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave whether thou go us the day of opportunity is now november 3rd 2021 at 15 minutes to 9. it is now there's coming a day you're going to be in the grave and there's no work going on in the grave work work work find something to do can i pray can i help somebody can i go across the aisle and introduce myself to somebody can i just help somebody in some way come on stand with me tonight love your lord and church to serve somewhere in order to to aid the success of the church and its mission man 3 000 people here sunday night 3 000 people here sunday night but can i tell you what there was an army of people serving there was an army of people that said pastor we'll turn our trunks into an evangelistic tool we'll buy candy and we'll we'll have a trunk out here there was armies of people out here cooking and serving and then when when when everybody was gone there were people out here on top of the building taking the lights down when everybody was gone and then daybreak it wasn't even it wasn't even it listen it was still dark outside about six o'clock in the morning guess what i heard i heard brother brandon and sister martha over here with blowers over here on the parking lot blowing all the paper off of the parking lot whatever your hand finds to do do it with all your might i'm here to wake you up tonight wake up find something in the house to do find something in the house to do in case you need a little help tonight in case you need a little help tonight there's a yard crew place you need a little help there's greeters and ushers be mindful you don't even have to belong to the greeter thus your staff be mindful of new people and help them to get connected there's a choir up here there's a choir up here and this is one of the neatest choirs in all the world so i i couldn't sing in that choir i can't sing that's the neatest thing about it you don't have to be able to sing we don't have tryouts you just got to live right you got to live right we don't have tryouts it's a choir there's volunteers they're small groups making new friends be supportive prayer times some of you all cannot come out when we have prayer called for the auditorium you can't come out i understand that and i get a joy when saints of god call me up and say pastor i'm not meeting you at 6 30 in the auditorium but i want you to know i'm praying at home just be a part of it i promise you i promise you every small part helps every small part helps would you just for a moment would you just love god we just would you just pray right now god what would you have me do that's that's all i'm asking right now god god what would you have me do god oh god uh god what would you have me do god what lord what would you have me do god what would you want me to do god god if you can use anything lord you can use me oh god if you can use anything lord you could use me oh god if you can use anything take my hands take my feet touch my heart lord speak through me god if you can use anything lord you could use me god if you could use anything god i don't want to go to sleep god i don't want to be i don't want to go to sleep god i want to be tethered to this house god i want to be tethered to this house i i want to be tethered to this place god i i do lord i do lord if you could use anything god you could use me oh lord if you could use anything and i want to close with this tonight thank you all for listening to the word tonight thank you very much for listening to the word but i want you to know this in dismissing you your house will prosper in proportion to how you prosper the house of god do you understand what i'm saying your house will prosper in proportion to how you prosper the house of god love this place get tied to this place in some way love this place this is the place to where you receive instruction to be saved and to say stay saved love this house father i love you tonight i thank you for the privilege of the opportunity lord to minister your word lord i pray tonight that you would wake us all up god i do not want to sleep what david said was the sleep of death god wake me up about my prayer life god wake me up about my fasting wake me up about my bible reading wake me up about my my sharing my testimony my bible teaching god wake me up lord to see souls that my testimony could alter someone's life god used the first apostolic here in maryville god help us to shake our city and our world i give you the praise tonight in jesus mighty name we pray amen and amen god bless you see you sunday morning at 10 o'clock be your house