Legacy of Light | First Lady Penny Carpenter

let's give that hand to the Lord for he alone is worthy and that EV us are worthy to even stand in his presence to be here this morning he's a good good father you may be seated well way too much has been said because every sister in this room has a testimony and your family can get up and talk about you and where you've come from and how you've surrendered your life so isn't it the greatest thing that we've ever done is just surrendering our life to god let's just praise him one more time lord we love you God we thank you Lord for your mercy and your kindness to every one of us God we don't even are not even worthy to stand in your presence God I thank you Lord for your spirit that we have felt today because God we need you yes we give you praise God you have but you have need of nothing but we need you and we praise you and we love you well this morning I want to wish all of our mothers a happy Mother's Day I want to wish Mom who put the fear of God in Me at a young as a young child she taught me everything she knew and imparted the fear of God and that has truly led me to where I am today a Godly mother that would just teach me to respect God in his ways so we have yes let's give our mothers a big hand and my mother and not only only physical mothers but we have ladies in this room that nurture children and nurture people and impart the word to them and thank you because you're a mother in your own right so don't ever feel like that you're outside of the circle because motherhood is a spirit it is a Spirit of helping others so that I say thank you I want to honor our mothers for all you've done for your families for fac of Maryville church family and for the kingdom of God at large sometimes we don't really um we kind of underestimate ourselves of what God can truly do through us so this morning that will be my goal is to impart to you what God has been speaking to me on my journey so I'm going to talk to you but I really just want to to talk to you from my heart of what God's saying to me and I'm about sure if God's telling me this that he's talking to you about the very same thing so let's all stand and we're going to invite God's presence into this room and I'm not a preacher I've always said Brother The Carpenter's anointed and I'm appointed and I stand before you today as an appointed person this morning I've prayed over this message it has been with me for the last several weeks uh I actually was on a plane with Lauren and we were talking and I'll try not to cry but we were talking and it was just like the Holy Ghost came between us and God just began to speak to my heart on what I should say for today so with prayer and study and a little bit of nervous I'm a little bit nervous this morning because what I have to say is is is a heavy message and I like to get up and bring Tidings of joy and comfort all those things but I just think God's got a word for us this morning that he can use us in a greater way if we will just hear his voice so as we pray this morning let us pray a blessing on our mothers our Godly mothers you know what we're all just doing the best we can right there's none perfect no not one and especially the woman standing before you today I'm not perfect but I do fear God and if we fear God and we have a willing heart he said if there's first a willing heart he can add anything else that we need we ask God for wisdom he's going to give it to us because he said If any man lack wisdom let him ask and he said I will give to all men liberally so he's no respector of persons and if we truly cry out to God to help us he is faithful and just he's never let us down because he's a good good father I know this is father's and Mother's Day but he's a good good father and I'm thankful for the church happy Mother's Day to the church that takes care of us as a body I'm just so thankful for this vehicle that every one of us could come together in this place so let's all pray a prayer to bless our mothers and to anoint our time together Lord I ask you this morning to touch every mother in this room I ask you to bless her with peace and strength and your wisdom and your power I ask you to anoint my heart to deliver what you've given me and I Al also ask you to anoint the heart of the hearer this morning God May when we end this service that we will all be better and that we will be striving to know you in a greater way in Jesus name I pray and everybody say Amen you may be seated being a Christian mother has always been one of the highest callings of my life I remember when I was pregnant with our first child Fallon I was scared to death and I asked God I said God if I don't have wisdom to raise this child to serve you now this is going to sound morbid but it's not God if I don't have wisdom to raise this child to serve you take this child in my womb because I knew one thing worse than losing a child was bringing a child in this world that I didn't have the capability to impart to her the word and the ways of God so I take this very serious and I've truly pray that with every child that I've had because this is big business because we are raising the Next Generation do you realize that ladies every one of you in this room have the ability to affect the Next Generation and it's what we impart to them it is what we impart to them that will make this church what it is 40 years from now or what it is not because we're all training our children right now it's just how are we training them we've got to ask ourselves that I'm approaching my 57th birthday on July 4th and there's been something stirring in my spirit as never before about leaving a legacy a legacy is something that has passed down from one generation to another often in the form of traditions teachings and values it can also refer to the impact or influence that a person leaves behind after they've passed away way in a broader sense a legacy is the imprint that a person makes on the world and how they are remembered by others I want to leave a legacy of light to my children grandchildren and everyone that I have the privilege to influence I want to be remembered for the love and compassion I've shared the values I instilled and the faith I've lived out in my daily life as I reflect on my journey as a Christian I see that every moment has been an opportunity to sew seeds of kindness encouragement and hope my desire is for a legacy of light to shine brightly in the hearts of those who follow after me guiding them on their own path towards lives that are rooted in the love of God his house and the love for Souls a Christian mother is more than just a role and again I think sometimes ladies we underestimate ourselves because you do know The Hand That Rocks the Cradle does rule the world so it is more than just a role it is a Divine calling that incomp encompasses the highest ideals of Love patience and faith as christian mothers we are entrusted with the tremendous responsibility of nurturing our children's souls and guiding them on their journey to know the love of God our role isn't just about meeting their physical needs but also about fostering their spiritual well-being and helping them grow into individ individuals that would have a healthy fear of God now there is a fear of God that's not good that oh God's going to kill me right now he's gonna strike me dead no a respect for God's ways and his word that's a healthy fear of God all the while we're IM imparting you can do it I believe in you we're giving them self-confidence Do You Realize by 5 years old our children said self-confidence is already established and it's very important in the formative years of their life how we treat them how we believe in them what we impart to our children you think those two years old old children are not listening oh yes they are and they're taking in they're like a sponge and they're taking it all in so we have been usted with nurturing our children's souls and guiding them on their journey to know and to love God of course we want to impart to them and be The Guiding Light after our light goes out so when you're 57 years old you start getting those papers in the mail you know about how old you are and how what it your future looks like you begin to think about these things and thankfully we've all been praying about that and asking God to guide us and in order to fulfill our divine calling and leaving a legacy of light thus Illuminating the light for our children and for those to come we will have to preserve what has brought Revelation and Power in our lives I'm going to say that again because we got to be very careful because this transaction of passing the Baton to the Next Generation can be a dangerous thing if we don't do it properly I'm going to say that again we will have to preserve what has brought Revelation and power we have to preserve that and mothers the calling that we enjoy gives us that resp responsibility we are living in a generation that enjoys more Comforts than ever before can I get an amen the apostolic Doctrine is now more accepted the vast majority of us has never known the days of being persecuted having rotten tomatoes thrown at us we have no fear of going to church being ridiculed or be being beat up for our beliefs we are more educated finer dressed than ever our church family has better cars and nicer houses with more amenities isn't that the truth we've got better than we've ever had it's hard to believe it that even Hollywood is going back to the natural look for women so our ladies are looked at as beautiful and it is called the beauty of Holiness for a reason yes it is we are living in the land of opportunity people from other countri countries leave their families and risk their lives for the privilege to come to this great nation our churches have the best preachers the best music the latest technology and beautiful buildings and we are blessed beyond measure sometimes I call it the curse of the blessing because we can sit in the blessing and become comfortable and forget truly why we are here it's the truth I thank God for every blessing and I never want to take it for granted because God you've been mighty mighty good to us he has hasn't he has he been good to you we're all here clothed and in our right mind this morning sitting at the feet of Jesus what more can we ask for we're blessed beyond measure however we can't allow God's blessings to make us like the Church of Le oysa we got to get in the word and find out what we need to do and what we don't need to do right leay osia they were rich and creased with good and they had need of nothing and with that frame of mind we may begin to buy into our modern culture and we got to be careful because we can't get lazy in the blessing and we can't we can't just sit here and not get out of our comfort zone and push ourselves we got to keep pushing because there's greater things God wants us to do he's just has to get our flesh out of the way he can't work for us if our flesh is alive and and well he wants to work through us but we can't don't it down we can't buy into the modern Church culture that teaches us there is a cross without sacrifice we are building new altars and unfortunately it's bleeding into our church family and into our children affecting us and infecting the way we think even making it palatable to tone down our services with making Seeker friendly Services being politically correct so that the word of God doesn't offend anyone if it doesn't offend our flesh how do we know that we need to change just as the labor in the Old Testament as this the repented sinner would walk toward that labor they could see themselves as who really were and we've got to take that Ser seriously because no flesh is going to glory in his presence and if we have our flesh alive and well God cannot work through us and we all have to ask ourselves the question this morning am I building a new altar and you know the day we're living in it's all about selfies well selfies is self and we got to be careful with our modern day culture it does affect our way of thinking when the trumpet makes an uncertain sound there is no clear word of God in addition to this we are having less Church shorter Services trying to make this palatable palatable and you know what the word of God was never meant to appease our flesh even as a pastor and pastor's wife we'll have friends call us and say Carpenter and it just kind of makes me sick but they'll say Carpenter man I've been out on the golf course this Sunday afternoon you've got to try this and I tell I'll tell my husband whose flesh wouldn't want to have less church I mean that means you wouldn't have to prepare prepare for another sermon or the music team wouldn't have to meet early for practicing in prayer whose flesh would not like that because flesh is flesh whether it's on a a preacher or on a saint or on a lost soul so whose flesh wouldn't like that but what are we trying to build are we trying to build a Seeker Friendly Church that's palatable to the world because if we are then they'll have no need for change they'll never be offended or pricked by the word to say hey something's got to change in my life something's got to change so we got to be careful we got to be careful in all the blessings that God has sent this way oh yeah we want people to come in we want them to feel the welome and don't we all SP our fit team first impr I mean we're waving at you coming in and we're hugging you and telling you so yes we are we're so glad you're here but ultimately this is a place of sacrifice in the Old Testament the Tabernacle was the mobile Church in the wilderness for the children of Israel it was a pattern type or Shadow just like a pattern for a dress ladies it's not the dress but it's what you use to make the dress it's going to look like the pattern okay so that was their pattern or shadow of things to come a pattern for salvation today and I so love the Tabernacle because it's such a beautiful uh picture to us of how we are to be saved today the children of Israel encamped around the house of God it was the centerpiece of their life so you have the Tabernacle in the middle of all of the 12 tribes and they all lived around the house of God okay and it was the centerpiece of their lives kind of like us today Sunday morning Sunday night Wednesday that's a part of our weekly calendar I'm not just picking when I'm showing up hey House of God's going on I'm there you know why because it's the centerpiece of my life and if it's the centerpiece of our life our kids never ask have to ask us Mom are we going to church tonight but if it's not that's right Penny Carpenter will know herself by her Fruit by what I produce and if I don't like what I'm producing I got to change my ways and there's times in my life and even right now again when I'm Point At You there's three fingers coming back at me I'm looking oh God I want to leave a legacy of light I want to illuminate the path for my children my grandchildren and anybody I can influence but I'm not going to do it by getting comfortable and getting lazy it will be because of a life of sacrifice the altar of sacrifice was the central element of the Israelite worship at the Tabernacle and later at the temple in Jerusalem it was sacred consecrated space where animal sacrifice were offered to God as a way to atone for sin to seek forgiveness of course we understand all it did was to push the sins of the children of Israel just push it forward a year all the way up to Calvary because we know who became that perfect sacrifice and that's Jesus Christ and that's why we love him so much he was the god man he was flesh that had the ability to sin but he was God that made him pass every test so he said such a beautiful thing that he lefted us so much that he would live to die for our sins aren't you thankful for that I'm so thankful for that but the blood of the sacrificial animal was considered a symbol of purification and reconciliation with God why modern Christianity does not involve the literal animal sacrifices it does represent a deep commitment to God God and a willingness to offer oneself as a Living Sacrifice everybody say Living Sacrifice he did he's not asking us to physically die only out die to our flesh but we have to be a Living Sacrifice Israel God instructed Israel to put horns on the altar of sacrifice the horns on the altar were symbolic and serve multiple purposes now number one it was a symbol of power and authority horns in biblical times were seen as symbols of strength power and authority by placing horns on the altar it reinforced the idea that sacrificing at this place was a significant act of worship and submission to God's Authority number two symbolism of protection and Sanctuary the horns of the altar also represented a place of refuge and protection to those seeking forgiveness or offering sacrifices to God number three the horns were the place that the blood was applied also individuals would cling to the horns of the altar as a sign of seeking mercy and protection from harm number four the sacrifice was bound to the horns of the altar needless to say the altar of sacrifice was a place of death since the Old Testament Tabernacle is the type of Salvation today and the fact that we Are Spiritual Jews the altar of sacrifice means that we me penny is to bound her flesh to the altar of sacrifice no flesh wants to die whether it's pastor's wife pastor Saint on the Pew or sinner no flesh wants to die that's why we have to bound ourselves to the altar of sacrifice because as those animals approach they approach that sacrifice no doubt they can smell death and when they were bound that flesh had to die as ours needs to die Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore Brethren by the mercies of God you hear that by the mercies of God this is the mercy of God for us not that he needs us again because he has need of nothing he is doing this for us sometimes we get it all wrong oh I'm serving the lord are you really I mean he just came and lived and died for you I mean when we present our body as a Living Sacrifice what have we done our reasonable service in other words we haven't done anything special we're just giving back to a good good father who has been mighty good to us you know I know people will say hey I go down there to First Apostolic church that's my church but do you have an altar of f sacrifice we might attend to the church but do we have an altar of sacrifice are we putting our Flesh on that altar in 1 chonicles 21:23 and 24 the Bible says and ornan said unto David take it to thee and let my Lord the king do that which is good in his eyes now this is the king Authority power I give thee The Oxen also for burnt offerings and the threshed instruments for wood and the wheat for the meat offering I give it all I'm giving it all to you and King David said to ornan Nay but I will verely buy it for full price for I will not take that which is thine for the Lord nor offer burnt offerings without cost when David got there the owner of the land wanted to help his Earthly King so the man offered to give David anything he needed and David's reply in verse 24 was no I insist on paying for it I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing you know we can come and be a member at a church but what is it costing us what is our sacrifice the the saying has been said the saying has been said I'm not worried about what I don't know about the word of God I'm worried what I do know and I don't do what is it that we are I was going to come and say the how to but we need to start doing what we know we need to be doing we all what is it that we already know that we should be doing because our flesh don't want to do it it doesn't because it's flesh do you know flesh All Flesh is rotten and stinking there's no flesh that smells good nobody's flesh I don't care how much perfume we put on what we make it look like All Flesh stinks okay and I know that's crass and I'm sorry but carer will correct me L later that truly S I need it yeah oh he'll enjoy that too cuz he talks a whole lot more I get to say more to him so just close your ears honey truly sacrifice really isn't about what it does for God but sacrifice somehow changes changes us it humbles our flesh so that God has the ability to work through US sacrifice is not a bad thing for us because God can somehow break us and he gets us in a place that we can hear his voice when we buy into our culture which is the god of convenience and no sacrif and no sacrifice this is what happens and this is what scares me Amos 3:14 that in that day I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him now didn't already say we're spiritual Jews right so that means we're spiritual Israelites right I will also visit the altars of bethl and the horns of the altar shall be cut off and and fall to the ground that's what scares me that God will cut off the horns of the altar God's judgment against Israel's altar showed that he was rejecting Israel's religious system because it was polluted with idol worship now they had different kinds of Idols but now many of our Idols is our self our home our car our children that they're so precious we don't need to correct them because everybody else is always wrong and we're doing it to their demise we are we need to Humble their flesh too not to punish but to make a corrective measure to correct Behavior so that our children can be an idol I've watched people have their kids of Idols they put them before God and their spouse and then when the kids were gone the husband and wife had nothing left they didn't have God first they didn't have each other second so there's nothing left and that's why you see empty NE divorcing because it was never in the right perspective it was not according to God's plan so there's so many idols and truthfully every I'm going to raise my hand right now there's an idol in my life I can think of right now does anybody else will anybody else just humble their FL does anybody have else have an idol I think most of us there's something that you know has a little bit more grip on us my one of my big ones is D Pepsi and poptarts it's got a grip on me you know when I first came to God it was soap operas and you know I would think oh Lord if I just get victory over soap operas that's all I need I need victory over so and then it's been long decades and decades since that's been a it's just true I mean I'm just me as who I am been long since the day is gone but now there's something else is growing old and trying to cling to everything and not getting rid of anything and being a hoarder I mean there's so many things everybody knows there's something in your life you need to work on you know unless you're Jesus Christ or we you know there's been a virgin birth we don't know anything about in this place I'm just I'm just being honest there's something we all have to work on so I can just take my halo off I didn't even have it this morning I been my knees have been shaken and all those things just asking God to help me deliver my heart to you so I don't want to deute pollute the altar with Gods we don't want to have an Altra sacrifice when we don't want to have it we pollute what God intends and God will cut off our place of refuge and we will have no protection that's scary to me because if I don't have it you know who else don't have it my kids that scares me the removal of the horns is a drastic reminder that Divine judgment is IM imminent and unavoidable unless we repent and turn back to God with sincere Hearts now I never see judgment as a a curse I see it at God's mercy because if he can correct us now because what his goal is for us to be ready to meet him it isn't oh that everything's hunky dory down here so when things happen or we go to what I call God's Woodshed that's God's mercy even in his judgment he gives us Mercy even you see in the Old Testament when he would give us a correction uh Noah in his day but what did he do after that oh he gave him a promise I'll never flood the Earth again you know so even in the curse there's still a blessing if we'll just hear what God has to say I've often said many times he'll come and correct Us in private and when we don't hear that he's got to make it public because somehow he's got to shake us because he's not willing that any of us would perish as much as everybody wants to think there's an Angry God up there there cool cool I'm going to hit you over the head that is a Lie from hell and I know that again I'm being a little bit CR forgive me honey but it is he's cheering for us he's cheering for us to make it he wants you to make it you're here this morning hearing these words for you to make it and all he wants to tell us today is hey Church precious ladies and Saints get your flesh under control and I can work through you so see that's how good he is okay so we don't want God to take away our protection they would go to the altar as a they would grab those horns as a refuge and there's no horns to grab where where you going to go and that's why people commit suicide they have no hope but our hope is in Christ the fire on the altar of incense was started by God don't that sound like something he would do yes it does he said to never let it go out now he started it but it wasn't his responsibility to keep it going because coals from the altar of sacrifice are taken to the altar of incense if we don't sacrifice on the altar of sacrifice the fire on the altar of incense will go out and there will be no worship no sweet smell or savior in worship and prayer to God thus our sacrifice is our worship and prayer is going up to God as a sweet smelling Savor just as cornelius's prayers build up as a memorial for God this man didn't have fullness of Truth read it in Acts 10 he didn't have fullness of Truth at the time but he feared God but he would pray and of course we know we gathered all his family in God spoke to him read acts 10 it's a beautiful a beautiful thing of a man that feared God just didn't have fullness of truth I was one of those kids Mama gave me all she had have it I just you just didn't know what I know now to give to me so I was able to get it and then bring it back to mom so it's been it's a beautiful thing it's a beautiful thing so we've got to take the coals from the altar of sacrifice to the altar of incense so in other words if we don't sacrifice we have no worship we're just here anybody can do this but if we don't have the sacrifice if our flesh is alive and well there's no worship and that's why truly sometimes people can sit on pews and never raise their hand or never shed a tear or feel a feeling because there's no sacrifice they're just going hey I'm here I go to church down there well that doesn't mean that you have an altar of sacrifice it just means you go to church down there brother KS always said just because you go to a Moose Lodge don't make you a mo okay so just because we go to a church just because I'm a pastor's wife don't make me a Christian that's just a title that's worth zero titles are worth zero the person you are is what makes you who you are don't ever seek a title in God's kingdom everything is O opposite the way to go up you know in the world we F our way to to the top but in God's kingdom we go down when you go to another level of leadership you go down to another level of servanthood after all the king of all Kings the creator of this universe humbled himself and came in a form of a man born in a lonely manger that's how God's kingdom works I'm your servant you're not mine and every time that you go up in leadership you go down in the kingdom of God and when the kingdom of God I'm going to fight my way to the top I'm sorry you're just on a trip and going nowhere it's just true so sometimes people think leadership is something it's not no it's servanthood because wwjd what would Jesus do he'd come and he'd Die For Us Perfect People perfect environment and we messed it up then he spent the Old Testament creating the blood sacrifice and then guess what he comes as that sacrifice that's what Jesus would do and if we have an alra sacrifice we're going to serve that's it you never graduate from that you never outgrow that and I don't even know where I'm at but all that's the truth okay okay I think I turn back but when we buy into our culture of convenience that's where we get into trouble so I guess I've said all that to say this if we want to leave a legacy of life because God is light you know that in Genesis in the first chapter he showed up on the scene of Darkness and Light appears he just shows up and who the light bulb goes on okay so I want to leave that I want the light bulb to go on and anybody that I can make I could teach whatever I just want to tell everybody if I'm sitting on a plane beside you somehow I want to get there because you might this might be the only chance if we want to give that Legacy of light we must have an altar of sacrifice and not buy into our present culture that says you can have the altar without sacrifice the fact of the matter is there is no altar without sacrifice and Jesus became the perfect sacrifice dying for our sins and we must die to our flesh becoming a Living Sacrifice and what happens it's holy and acceptable unto God we do that by obeying his word and by Leading by example always remember what we really believe will leak out through our behaviors I'm gon to say that again what penny Carpenter really believes will leak out through my behavior we must truly submit our flesh and live according to his word again I'm going to say this and and I'm sorry I just want you to take this home I'm not afraid of what we do not know and about God I'm afraid what we do know and we don't obey our flesh needs to Die daily sub to through submitting our flesh to prayer and the word now you cannot impart something you don't have so I want to train my children well I can't impart that to them if I don't have it so I've got to be honest with myself am I dying daily submitting My Flesh to prayer you get down to prayer in everything that you could Earthly think of to do comes to your mind oh and I got this meeting and I've got this or when you go to read the word all those things come to your mind this little Story I Heard the other day and I'm sure y'all have already heard it but I feel like repeating it there was an old Cherokee teaching his grandson about life he said a fight is going on inside he told his grandson it's a terrible fight and it is between two wolves one is evil he is angry he envies he has sorrow regret greed arrogance self-pity guilt resentment inferiority lies false Pride superiority and ego he continued the other is good listen to this one he has joy peace love hope hope Serenity humility kindness benevolence empathy generosity truth compassion and Faith the same fight is going on inside of you and inside every other person too that fight's going on inside of every one of us in this room the grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather which wolf will win the old Cherokee simply repli replied the one you feed who are you feeding are you feeding the one that has self-pity guilt resentment greed regret and may may I add it's all about me he high-mindedness all those things that God does not want us to are we feeding our ego do we have false Pride look at me do we put others down to lift ourselves up or do we have joy peace love hope kindness longsuffering meekness gentleness that is a fruit of the spirit and when we're full of God's spirit that's a natural byproduct when I'm full of the Holy Ghost of course we know we speak in an unknown tongue that's the evidence or the proof but we need to live under the influence of God's word because a byproduct of the Holy Ghost see a lot of times we claim the Holy Ghost but my question is does it claim us and it'll claim Us by love joy peace peace kindness meekness self-control every fruit is a form of love cuz God is love so when we have we full of his Spirit that's what's going to emanate from us now sometimes love is telling somebody the truth and kindness just because you have to correct something don't mean that's wrong but you need to do it with kindness so it's an overflow of what's inside of us so what are you feeding the evil one or the good wolf psalm 19 105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path we will leave no Legacy of light to our children if we don't get the word of God in our lives we will not know where we are going and we will live in darkness truly the more we have prayer in the word the more we have of God and it will affect our daily actions it will give us wisdom to lead our children and guidance for our journey now this is basic I'm not saying anything new that you haven't ever heard before but it's so basic we just step right over it on to miracles signs and wonders well what good does that do you in your everyday life if your flesh is alive and well you know the miracle of the signs and the Wonders is the miracle of Salvation that God can actually change a heathen like me it's the truth that's the miracle so it's basic so let's start obeying what we already know because when we do that you know what God does he gives us more Revelation sometimes people say oh I just don't see that I get it because you're not obeying what you already know I get tickled at people how people explain things away so I get it that you don't see it that way because your flesh is alive and well and it don't like to die we go down in that baptism it's a dead man that's going up there and when we go up there we're seeing I'm a rotten low down centner and God I need all this mess I've been doing all these years I've often said it's not where you it's where you're going but when you go there that's a burial that's a very somber place just as it was when they went toward that labor it's a burial our culture takes the word of word sacrifice and tries to make it sound evil but God loves Holiness he loves when we submit our lives with externalities to show that we are women and men might I say that profess godliness you should be able to see us coming and how we act what you see you should say hey there's something here how many people have you you haven't even spoken to somebody and they ask you for prayer you know why because they see something that's not of this world we were never meant to blend in we're A peculiar people we're not supposed to be like the world because if we're just like the world they have nothing to come to we're kidding ourselves we're not building churches that God is going to be in the midst the altar of sacrifices is where the fire happens and then it it goes on God loves when we're faithful to his house Hebrews 10:25 see our culture they're going to probably talk about this but our culture says let's make it let's church we don't want to be a burden on the people they need family time reality is the greatest family time you will ever have is in the house of God learn that's right because I will be well with you in your house I don't regret one service that I've ever got my kid I used to stay up on Saturday nights getting clothes ready washing hair had it braided all we had to do is throw it on and go I don't regret one time not one time and yes it was sacrifice to raise those kids up did they always want to go absolutely not they did have a drug problem because we drag them to church but you know what their kids have that same problem now because they're dragging them to church not in a bad way of course but Hebrews 10:25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together together as the manner of some is but exhorting one another listen to this and so much the more as you see the day approaching in other words when you see God getting ready to come back because everything's getting so dark and so evil don't you know the devil's having his meetings we're seeing it they're Gathering Together against Christianity but we got to be a body that we work together and we encourage and exort one another there see you know I I go to the mountains well you can go to the mountains and be alone but what you can't have in the mountains is community you can't have that I'm seeing your kids living the same and my kids are seeing your kids living the same way and we're all we all have a core that we all we're not exactly alike absolutely not but I have your grandchildren to run with my grandchildren iron sharpened with iron and if the devil could pick us off all to ourselves then what we do is in breed our flaws instead of iron sharp we we sharpen one another but the devil wants to pick you off all by yourself so all the more as we see the day approaching but see even the apostolic church if we allow ourselves with all the blessings that God's given us we will tone it down and we won't take forward what brought us here what brought us here we've often said we want to take the spirit of McGinley Street it was a place of sacrifice because we had four air conditioners and had to unplug we didn't have air conditioning during the preaching cuz you couldn't hear it that was a place of sacrifice and knowing our need for God but on every level we need God that never goes way and again we never graduate always remember our children that's my kids and your kids my grandbabies and great grandbabies and who I influence they're not going to buy into something that we're not sold out to and believe me they know they know because you know how they know because they'll go and order their life by what you've taught them Deuteronomy 27 1-10 and Moses with the Elders of Israel commanded the people saying keep all the Commandments which I command you this day and it shall be on the day when you shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee that thou shalt set thee up great stones and plaster them with plaster now this is so important that God said this okay and thou shal write upon them all the words of the law when thou art passed over that thou mayest go into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee a land that floweth with milk and honey it's going to get great you're going to be blessed but don't forget we're going to be blessed but we can't forget as the Lord God of thy fathers have promised thee therefore it shall be when you go over Jordan that you shall set up these Stones which I command you this day in Mount ebal then Thou shalt plaster them with plaster and thou shalt build an altar unto the Lord thy God God an altar of stones Thou shalt not lift up an iron tool upon them no but nothing's going to get Glory the creators of this altar it's not about them we're not touching it's going to be just like God made it Thou shalt build that altar with those whole stones and thou shalt offer peace offerings and shalt eat there and rejoice before thy L Lord God before the Lord thy God and thou shalt ride upon the stones all of the words of this law very plainly that's not culture it's just the word of God God never changes very plainly we don't have to wrap it up in a different box and try to make it look like something different yes it is an Altra sacrifice there's no other way to come to God but the blessings are amazing they really are so and write up on the stones all the words of this law very plainly and Moses and the priest the Levites spake unto all Israel so they they did what God told them to do saying take heed and hearken oh Israel that's us we're spiritual Jews this day they art become the people of the Lord thy God thou Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the Lord thy God and do his Commandments in his statutes which I command thee this day Moses and the elders commanded the children of Israel to keep all the Commandments that they commanded them and when they passed over Jordan to the promised land of course in our culture you would wouldn't even be listening to Moses and the Levites which was the pastors the god ordained people because we're our own God now and that's the that's why we don't have horns on our altar in our culture they were to set up great stones and plaster them and whitewash them with lime and write all the words of the law not only write them but they said to write them very plainly the word of God is to be taught plainly to our children not in a vague way the law was written on these stones the presence of the children of Israel so everybody knew what it said so they saw the law on the way to the promised land if they were to go back to the Wilderness it would be a memorial of what they should be living and I don't want to go back because I don't want what we have here and what we've had here for the last 43 years to be a memorial they were also told to white wash them with lime this made the words easy to be seen we need to do everything in our power to make the word of God more accessible to our children we must live the word because the greatest book I've ever read is my mother that feared God mothers the greatest book your children will ever read the greatest Bible is when you live the word and you are an example and you don't just Wayne out over time we it's not time to back up read the word to our children on a daily basis there's all kinds of ways to do that and God's dealt with me about making books just for you all but read the word to them and honor the preach word by not forsaking the Assemblies of oursel together do you know every opportunity that you have to hear the word and you don't you're going to be responsible for that because it's here it's just laid right in front of us but sometimes our calendar is too busy to even get here on Wednesday night we don't have multiple choice we need I need every single service I need the word to daily impact my lives when we don't do according to God's plan with a life of submission we are disorderly and Chaos Reigns in our lives and unfortunately in the lives of those we influence so ladies and gentlemen also it is my hope and prayer that we as mothers and influencers recognize the immense impact we have on shaping the future generation of Believers we're creating the church that's going to be here 40 years from now may we cherish each moment that God has entrusted to us using our time wisely to leave behind a lasting lasting Legacy of light Illuminating the path for our children they should see it because we should put the path before them may our children bear witness to the legacy of Godly women who have Faithfully stood the test of time and led by example with unwavering faith I'm going to leave you with a poem that the author's unknown but for the carpenter is going to come and get us out of this mess a Christian mother strong and true guiding her children in all they do with faith as steady as a rock she leads them through life's winding clock her prayers are like a gentle breeze bringing Comfort hope and ease in times of joy and in times of strife she points them always to the light her love is like a beacon bright shining through the dark night with Grace and wisdom in her hands she nurtures hearts in God's own plans her words are kind her actions pure a steadfast anchor steady and sure in every moment big or small she heeds God's loving gentle call a Christian Mother gift from above sewing seeds of faith and love in her example we find our way Guided by her light each day may God continue to bless our ladies I love you so much