Choose

would you pray with me church jesus we love you lord and we call upon your name right now for there is no other name jesus jesus we breathe that name right now lord we shout that name right now we believe and trust in that name jesus lord god as we go to your word i pray for revelation of who you are in your word lord i make myself available one more time to you i need you there is truth in your word jesus there is hope in your word there is power to overcome in your word salvation is found in your word healing and deliverance is in your word heaven is in your word today lord we call upon you be with us lord let us hear from you hallelujah can the church worship him for just a moment come on lift your voice lift your voice to him i love you lord i love you lord i love you lord i love you lord i trust you lord i trust you lord i trust you lord i honor you lord i believe in you lord i believe in you lord i believe in you hallelujah hallelujah jesus you may be seated if you feel like you have to to all of our singers musicians everybody enjoy the extra singers and extra musicians today yeah they're adding to the group daily such as should be played no sorry saved some of them we're still working on right here but it is good to see all of you out here today thank you to the video group to the audio group to the teachers to the wiper downers and the cleaner uppers thank you so much everybody say god bless cornerstone great day to be in the house of the lord to our guest i welcome you so glad that you're here today so glad you're worshiping the lord with us today amen for those of you online welcome to our worship time we are glad that you are here i hope your bibles are close by and gathered around watching and participating with what the lord has for us so good to be here nothing like the presence of friends family and jesus amen what a great day it is to worship the lord as we sit in this room today we are all witnesses to the power and to the potential of walking with jesus every day anybody remember the old song walking with jesus sweeter as the day goes by mama no doubt he has blessed every single one of you this week even if you didn't know what he was doing he was he was blessing you i believe that some of you in here with your own eyes you have seen the very blessings of god in your house in your life on your job in your health in your finances you know exactly that god is an on-time god anybody wave your hand and say amen yeah your children were protected this week mom and dad because you prayed for them that ought to excite you you've got food in your kitchen the electricity still runs the ac at your house might not be as cold as you wish it could be but at least you're inside some reason somehow you had enough fuel in your car to get to church today and i have no doubt majority of you will have something to eat on your way home to your home or when you get home or all three huh god's been good to you now you could you could pick out all the goodness of the lord and his hand in your lives and i i know beyond the shadow of a doubt that somebody watching online or somebody sitting here under the sound of my voice that you could stand to your feet and you could at this very moment simply bless the name of the lord for his goodness is there anybody feels like you could give him praise right now come on i'll give you a few minutes of my message tom just love the lord he's a mighty good god oh that's right come on worship him he's a glorious savior praise god forever hallelujah we are serving and worshiping today the most wonderful and the most precious savior that you'll ever know and his name is jesus oh somebody say it again jesus somebody say it again he is in this room right now his spirit is walking in and out of these aisles where you are right now presently there is an anointing that is flowing in this room you and i we are direct recipients of the grace and the mercy and the love of a mighty savior it's a great day to know him and to worship and love him god has been good to you as every day passes we are reminded of the great need that we have for jesus amen the condition of our world it should be an incredible indicator to every single one of us of how much now we need to be calling on the name of the lord jesus hey as the situations around you transpire and unfold you should now more than ever be actively pursuing the promises of jesus christ in his word listen to me mom and dad if you've got a backslidden child now is the time to be entertaining the power and presence of god if you've got a neighbor or fame oh let me take a minute family member that's not going to heaven because their name's not in the book a lot right now you better be interceding and standing in the gap for them this is not the moment nor the hour to sit down on jesus and give up on his word and quit believing in the bible hear what i'm telling you i don't care how good your job is how much money is in your account what's going on in your life heaven is real and hell is hot ah my my uh we got to choose jesus every day we got to love him every day i want to share with you if you'll give me just a few moments i want to share with you today an old testament story a lot of similar things went on back then as has gone on today in your bible you can find in the book of joshua everybody say joshua go back go go it's in your old testament i'll give you a second i wrote here pause for a water drink no i didn't joshua 23 verse number one it came to pass a long time after the lord had given rest unto israel from all their enemies round about that joshua waxed old and stricken in age everybody say he's old joshua was the leader of israel after moses passed from the scene joshua took over he led the people of god over deserts and plains and mountains and valleys it was this joshua that had spent time with moses in the presence of jehovah god in places where the children of israel would not listen to god it was joshua that saw with his own eyes the rebellion of the people of god but as the man of god moses stood in the gap it was joshua who understood full well the power of jehovah god that could do something to the people of god this leader joshua was indeed the voice of god that the people of god desperately needed when we pick up here in chapter 23 joshua is getting old aren't you thankful for getting old i mean the other option's what don't want to do that joshua had seen so many things in his life if you'll take your own time and you'll study and read how that joshua called all the people of israel to come together in chapter 23 of course it would be impossible for the millions inhabitants or the million of those from israel to gather around one man and they really actually hear anything that he had to say so according to the writer of joshua we understand that he spoke he called elders the heads the judges and the officers he would speak to them he would relay to them a word and then they understood their responsibility they would then take it to their group and then that group would take it to their group until everybody in the camp of israel and the people of israel heard what said the word of the lord understand it was very difficult and very taxing but it was also very effective so joshua he is nearing if you will the end of his life he's getting old in verse 3 of 23 says and ye have seen all that the lord your god hath done unto all these nations because of you for the lord your god for the lord your god is he for the lord your god is he that hath fought for you god has fought for you people joshua made full well that the elders and the rulers and those that were that were judges and heads and officers he made sure that he declared to them let me remind you of something it is the god of creation that has fought for you notice when you look at this phrase coming out of the old man's mouth he's establishing one more time a gentle maybe even a pushing reminder for somebody to realize who you are you are god's people there is an anointing upon you there's a call upon you there's a purpose upon you when you go through the rest of chapter 23 you find out how that joshua was simply reiterating reminding bringing back to their understanding the greatness of the lord god in the world in which they were living there is a power there is an ability to recall the blessings of the lord i want to ask in 2020 amongst anybody listening to me online or in this room does anybody know what i'm talking about when you begin to remember and to recall the blessings of almighty god is there anybody that understands what it's like when you're driving to work and it's all quiet and peaceful in your vehicle and for some odd reason a song of old comes to your mind and you begin to hum it and then you begin to sing it maybe i'm the only crazy one out there brother gibson but i know what it's like to be in a quiet spot and the old rugged cross begin to roll over in my mind and i begin to think and remember brother duran the goodness and the blessing of my god in my life i begin to remember where the lord brought me from in every step that i took when you begin to think of the goodness of the lord then you begin to remember a little better the goodness of the lord now hang on to me the reason that i'm mentioning this particular section of your bible today is to bring into perspective the very power of recollecting exactly who you are if you lived in the days that this story was written and you were looking at this afternoon the way that you would have been back then then you would have to declare in the temple of the lord that jehovah has been good to you in fact you would need to recount the greatness of god to your children and to their children i want the young folk to understand there were no ipads there were no cell phones there was no way to click on a movie or see it on netflix or nothing like that it was going to be when you sat down with your children and grandchildren and you begin to recollect with them hey hear me grandchild there was a time when cancer wrapped my body and i thought i was gonna die but somebody called on the only name of jesus and my life will change hey i don't mind telling you you can ask my children my wife and anybody that knows me i'll tell them when i was in the fourth grade that i had to come out of school i couldn't walk a straight line i had been diagnosed with a disease i was told sitting in a doctor's office that by the age of 13 i'd be in a wheelchair the rest of my life why because my system was shutting down but i knew right now if i'd have known back then i would have realized that my mom and my dad weren't about to settle for it but my dad out in the backyard walking around the tree i plead the blood over my son i plead the blood over his sickness i rebuke you in the name of jesus i come against you in the name of jesus i've recounted that story a thousand times there ain't no way there ain't no way that i'll let that miracle slide praying for the little baby on a mission field one kidney normal one kidney not that it was the size of a pee missionary i don't know why but the lord said for ask me for you and your wife to pray for him jesus touches baby you honor the faith of his mom and dad i plead your blood right now in jesus name amen handed the baby back that week my wife got a phone call from that lady she said went to the doctor they said go home both kidneys are the same size we have no idea what you're talking about i know who i am i'm a blood-bought child of god hey i remember what it was like oh lord don't let me get lost right now i remember what it was like in a motor home deputize it and my little girl's got a hundred plus temperature and i don't know anywhere to take her we're out just trying to visit churches and love god only thing i knew to do was honey let's pray in the name of jesus i rebuke this fever i speak against it i take dominion and authority over it in the precious name of jesus right now and feel the heat go out under my hand and her sit up straight can i have something to eat hey i've come to tell somebody you better remember the goodness of the lord that's what joshua was reminding the people of god you better know god has fought the battle for you hold on hold on y'all sit down y'all messing me up we move a little further down the story line we notice in the beginning of chapter number 24 joshua one more time he gathered the leaders he was speaking very pointed to them he recalls their heritage his voice carries across the group of leaders that were there and he reminds them just what happened in their history before there was an abraham from the land that served other gods a people that were tossed and moved to worship just about anything that they could in an atmosphere of that god drew abraham out of earth the chaldees a land that was so against god they had cut he had pulled abraham out of it and it was that abraham that god said i'm going to multiply your seed your family is going to grow and grow and grow it'll be like the sand on a seashore or the stars in the heavens you don't get it right now abraham because you have yet to have a child but i have a word i've got a promise and it's going to happen stay with me it was in that atmosphere that joshua vividly begins to declare to the people all of them from the top to the bottom he shares the moments and the places when the people of israel would walk away from god and they would begin to serve other gods they would begin to worship the little bitty idols they would begin to look all around them and what everybody else was doing but then joshua explains that there's a path that gets you from that place back unto the god hear me friend there's always a way to get home joshua chapter 24 verse number 13 joshua 24 13. i have given you a land for which you did not labor and cities which you did not build and you dwell in them of the vineyards and all of yours which ye planted not do you eat now therefore fear the lord and serve him in sincerity and in truth and put away the gods which your father served on the other side of the flood and in egypt and serve ye the lord and if it seemed evil unto you to serve the lord choose you this day whom you will serve whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the flood or the gods of the amorites in whose land you dwelt but as for me and my house we will serve the lord god gave to his people lands vineyards provisions that they didn't even work for and joshua presents it to them and he thinks and he tells them and he encourages them and he declares to them listen if you want to go worship and serve another god you make a choice right now but as for me we're going to serve the lord in other words the choice is up to you after everything had been built after all the grandfathers and fathers and great-grandfathers after the heritage after all that had been declared joshua presented to them a very very powerful message and he simply told them this choose today make a choice right now but as for me and my house men and women in 2020 you're going to have to make a choice are you going to follow his word and his path or are you going to go off and look for other powers that are much weaker and much less able to do anything i bring us to this point today to demonstrate something that is so powerful in the word of god hear me carefully please notice that the bible tells us in the story of joshua that he gathered his leaders to him in the land of sheikhan she come was a very important piece of land in the old testament it was there that commitments and covenants were made between god and his people say with me it was in chico that jacob dug a well it was in chico that the land was given to levi and the land provided for the priesthood it was in sheikham that stood everything apart from the other cities that were around them hear it if you go through history you'll find that sheikah was the richest and the greenest and the most fertile soil the trees and the plants and the animals it was a valley that held water and provision for the animals and for the fruit and the vegetables to grow this was the place where everybody wanted to live it is that part of land in which joshua's sitting there and he's giving this explanation i have made a choice and i choose to serve the lord history declares the importance of this piece of land why because if you would to flip over into your new testament in the book of john chapter number four the gospel tells us in verse one when therefore the lord knew how the pharisees has heard had heard that jesus made and baptized more disciples than john though jesus himself baptized not but his disciples verse three he left judea departed again to galilee and he must needs go through samaria he then cometh he to a city in samaria which is called a psycho translation she come near to the parcel of ground that jacob gave to his own son joseph now jacob's well was there jesus therefore being wearied and is with his journey sat thus on the well and it was about the sixth hour they're coming the woman of samaria to draw water stay with me somebody jesus saith unto her give me the drink for his disciples were gone away into the city to buy me then saith the woman of samaria unto him how is it now being a jew asking drink of me which i'm a woman of samaria for the jews have no dealings with the samaritan jesus in verse 10 said this answered and said unto her if thou knewest the gift of god and who it is that say it to thee give me the drink thou would us ask have asked of him and he would have given thee living water understand that as we looked at the old testament joshua's story when we come to the new testament jesus is on a trip and he even declares i've got to go to samaria and when i get there i'm going to connect some dots that happened with great great great great great great granddaddy way back there and when he got there there was something that began to happen the woman herself said we're dogs you don't even think we're people we're half priests outcasts worthless even the disciples even his followers jesus stay away from there don't go near there don't go across there do not enter introduce yourself don't enter introduce yourself to who they are joshua declared in that day as for me in my house we're going to serve the lord in jesus day he's walking through that very land and he finds a lady standing there and he begins to talk to her and there's simply something about the power of a choice and when she said wait just a moment the story unfolds in john you find her running as fast as she can back to the city and she's saying oh come and see there's a man out here who's talking about me and my heritage and where i've come from and my mistakes and my failures and my faults and the bible says the samaritans that nobody wanted jesus walks in there and says you need to know something there is something out of this land that a promise was made generations ago the question is do you choose jesus or do you let him walk by come on every single one of you in this room you know the goodness of the lord and there is no way possible that you could ever make a list of his goodness and grace and mercy in your life there's somebody right now that's watching online and the tears are streaming down your face and you have no idea what's happening but you're beginning to remember a grandmother's prayer you're beginning to remember a revival as a child that you were in because a neighbor took you there and you're beginning to recall the great feeling of joy and freedom and liberty that you felt in the presence of a holy god and for some reason right now that spirit is working in your presence in this room right now as we prayed over our babies earlier from the smallest to the largest kids i want you to understand something there is only one reason and one reason only that your pastor stands up here week after week and sweats to death screams and yells the best that he knows how tries his best to put together a word that god gives him it's for one reason is because i do not want to miss you in eternity i do not to wonder where you are mom and dad i know life's tough and things are going on in your life but you're gonna have to make a choice i'm thankful for the mercy of god aren't you brother gibson part of his mercy may very well be the trump of the lord will happen saints will go out the dead and christ shall rise and together we'll meet them in the air anybody ever read that in your word what i notice in that explanation brother horton is if somebody's left here i won't ever know what they look like as loneliness settled over them and despair rested over them and the church and the spirit of god leaves the planet i'll never know logan what it looks like for them to stand here by themselves with nothing but you thankful for the mercy of god sister renee because the truth is the trump was the sound and i had that moment to look around and say come on let's go come on let's go together if you weren't ready sister generally nothing i can do i couldn't get you there i couldn't my next step may be streets of glory but your next step would be a bottomless pit there are no options but those two now i don't mind telling you if you're okay with hell then you go i don't want that that is not god's plan for me it's not his plan for you he would that none would perish but you're gonna have to choose the old fellow joshua crinkled skin vision dim knees sore back weary experience such great and magnificent things i have a feeling i have a feeling brother herb that when he started remembering where god had brought him from whoo tell me let go don't touch me oh i'm feeling my i might pay for this tomorrow but i remember i remember when we came off a mountain and moses is mad he's carrying these stones at the finger of god i didn't know i thought man there's a war going on i didn't know they're celebrating they're worshiping something and as he came down and anger welled up in him i just stood by the side young fella i didn't know who i got a feeling everything's going to not be good and as he threw the stones to the ground it was joshua's mind see he had he had lingered in the presence of god he had stayed in the presence of god he knew what the breath of god looked like i i am convinced joshua knew what the odor of god was anybody ever smelled jesus he's got an odor anybody ever felt and brush up against you he moves don't you think for a moment that he's something obscure out there and i could oh god help me today i'm trying to watch my clock my dear little grandma on her last days in a hospital room you remember grandma's right you remember grandmas yeah i miss wednesday night church now it didn't matter because i was assisting past no yes it did matter i went to see my grandma hospital raymond come sit by me baby hey granny she's all weak her heart's weak she started laying here in bed last night i said okay granny what happened i was laying in the middle of the night and fear overshadowed me and i sat up and what is going on no no no no i'm laying in this bed and it's dark lights are off the little beeps going on in the monitor and the lights are down she said i raised up and i looked coming in the door was this little bitty guy that had a sack over his back how is that i can remember this walked into my hospital room and i leaned up on one elbow looked down and she said i knew in an instant in the darkness that it was the enemy the devil himself came in that room she said i know he's got this bag and i'm sitting here listening to my 70 year old plus grandma tell this story and she said he sat down on the ground and he dumped his bag out and all these toys like toys fell out on the ground and i'm leaned up looking down on him and i'm seeing what's going and he's got these things and he's moving and they scooped them around the floor and she said i'm looking and she said finally he looks up at me and he says you know what i've got here what do you got this right here these are the tricks that i use for the church they think they can get this and they don't because i'm moving they think they can have that they don't i move it then i put this one in its place and she said evil has filled the room and i'm laying here i don't know what's going on but i can feel this i can see i can see what's happening she said the only thing that i could do raymond i said yeah granny of course her heart monitor now is going b beep and they're the nurses dad they okay they're fine back by my grandma speaking in tongues and i'm sitting there saying they leave so she says listen to me in a moment i looked up and i felt evil and she said the only thing i could say was jesus and she said when i did this glow happened and the door swung open and he walks in and the little guy on the floor began to scream he grabbed his stuff threw it in the bag went straight out the door and she said raymond he stood in front of me and i felt him and i smelled him and she's speaking and i'm speaking to tom i'm sobbing as a little baby and she said you realize that if the church will ever understand the tools of the devil are trickery but if they'll ever remember the power and the presence of god they will understand if you simply breathe jesus and you recall he's never failed me he's never walked away from me he was there when i got a hold of it and he was there when i didn't even know how to get it he was there in the midnight he was there in the middle of the day he was there in the uptime he was there when it all fell apart i'm coming to tell somebody you better choose who you're going to follow and what you're going to do why because if you don't you're going to be caught chasing the toys of the enemy i ask you today as i close are you ready for a life that is full and blessed is there anybody ready for a life that is abundant full of love and life itself is there anybody looking today for a forgiven life free from the bonds of sin and your past is there anybody today hungry for hope and mercy then i've come to declare to you as pastor of this assembly repentance still works repentance does work baptism in the name of jesus still washes away sin the holy ghost still feels lives so my question today is simply this who you going to serve are you going to choose jesus or are you going to choose the lies of this world stand with me please all over this place with your head back eyes open look to heaven please lift your hands the best way you know how i want you to begin to make a conscious decision lord i i want you i need you come on somebody come on you better make a choice today we've got no guarantees for next week you've got no promises for tomorrow except that god will be god come on lift your hands to him right now this altar is open you young people you need to be the first ones down here today i don't want to go back to school with doubt i don't want to go back to face my friends that they're going to try to pull me every direction and the choices i make are going to send my soul to hell and i'll burn for an eternity i don't want that what i want is i want joy unspeakable it's full of glory i want to know the name and the power of the cross come on young folk you need to make a choice today mom and dad maybe you need to help your kids let them realize how true and honest this is it is in jesus hope is in him choose you this day who are you going to serve come on who are you going to serve are you going to serve the little gods are you going to serve the little things maybe of past generations of failures and false or are you going to serve the lord as for me in my house we choose him we're going to follow after him we're going to sacrifice for him we're going to make choices that lead us to him come on this altar is open right now anybody want to pray would you come this is the place right down here to make choices come on young folk come on mom and dad come on grandparents this is the place to make decisions come on that'll lead you into the heavenlies choose this day make a choice right now come on gather in come on this prayer time come on young folk gather in you don't need to be leaving a sanctuary you need to be up at this altar you don't need to be leaving come on you need to come to an altar your soul is going to be weighed in a balance you need to know beyond the shadow of a doubt that god god is going to come and he's going to ask you is your name here in the book or not come on somebody come on be found worshiping him right now that's right in the name of jesus the holy ghost is real the holy ghost is right come on the name of jesus can still save you the blood of jesus can still wash you the cross of calvary still has power there is wonder working power in that blood today come on open your mouth begin to bless the lord begin to worship the name begin to lift up the name of jesus that's right that's right who are you going to serve who are you going to serve that's right come on gather up next to somebody help them pray that's right come on help him pray jesus you're the answer jesus you're the way jesus you're the truth jesus everything is in you come on that's right get a hold of somebody right now pray with them oh god help my child to make the right choices and help my grandchildren lord i want to be able to tell them the good stories the miracles that you have wrought the healing lord that you have accomplished the blessings lord god the anointing lord god the gracious blood that you shed for us come on that's right it's prayer times pray one with another jesus jesus jesus jesus christ right come on that's right you need one another come on you need the blood of jesus in your life i love you lord i bless you lord i bless you lord that's right in the name of jesus i call on your name i reach for you jesus i reach for you right now lord i don't want to be left behind i don't want to be left behind jesus but when you call your church home lord i'm ready to go i have made it sure my name is in the book i've gone down in your name i've been filled with your speeches that's right that's right come on young people call on the lord that's right mom and dad call them the name of the lord the name of jesus the name of jesus hey go find somebody pray with them if you're comfortable with that please come on we got a lot of young folk that need somebody to cover them in prayer come on we got some young couples that need covered in prayer right now come on we need one another we need each other that's right ladies would you help a lady pray men go help a man pray come on let's pray one for another before we go home today we need each other we need one another in the name of jesus in the name of jesus in the name of jesus the name of jesus that's right that's right that's right open your mouth talk to the lord open your mouth talk to jesus i need you lord i need you lord great as your faithfulness jesus help me god i want to do the right thing i want to make the right choice i want to choose you today i want your word lord god to work in my life jesus jesus jesus that's right that's right young people call on the name of the lord there's healing in the name there's deliverance in the name that's right the holy ghost is here right now jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus holy is your name worthy is your name worthy is your name god of glory i love you today i believe in your jesus my soul says yes to you yes to you jesus now get up close to somebody right now we're going to pray one for another as we leave this place jesus mighty god mighty god savior redeemer sweet rose of sharon wheel in the middle of a wheel a nail in a sure place my god my redeemer right now we call on you lord we believe now more than ever signs are pointing to your return help us god lord let us pursue you with hunger with diligence let us hunger and thirst for righteousness let the name of the lord jesus be exalted in things that we're partaking of help us god to pray early and help us lord god to remember you throughout the day to pray at night lord help us lord let your word produce fruit in our lives jesus i pray spirit of the living god help us i pray go with us this week lord we're going to come back loving and praising you the name of jesus jesus jesus somebody say in jesus name in jesus name