Glad

Come on, somebody. The Lord is faithful. The Lord is faithful. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Wow, it's 110 for us clock watchers. Some of y'all are so stressed right now. Some of you are so thankful you remembered deodorant this morning. Some of you, man, I am so glad you're in the house of the Lord today. If you're guest, we're welcoming you. If you're online joining us, we're glad you're here. It's always good to come together. Thank you, worship team. Amen. Thank you to everybody at CAC that has a part in our Sunday family celebration. If you've guarded cars or parked cars or turned cars over or whatever, if you've set out water or coffee, cookies today, congratulations to the older, not so youngers for your Sunday school championship. Tug-of-war is a cool sport, right? Um, it wasn't tug of war. Few days ago, I began to trudge through some of this trying to figure out the voice of God for today. And then I got here and everybody has messed up all of it. But because I am pastor, I don't let you go home yet until we put some order to what God is doing in your life. Pray with me. Lord, we know that without you, we're nothing, but with you, Lord, we can do all things through Christ. Thank you, Lord, for the glorious, wonderful time of worship we've had and the singing, Lord, and the exaltation of your name. Thank you for the apostolic move of God in this place today. Lord, right now I make myself available to you, Jesus. I so desperately need you. Bless in this house. Let us hear the word and be doers of the word. Speak into our lives, Lord. I pray the name of Jesus. Be glorified and be exalted. Lord, somebody today needs you. Somebody, Lord, is right there at a breakthrough. And I'm believing, God, today they can leave here with victory. With victory. Somebody say in Jesus name. So for the sake of confession to make you feel better, how many of your watches went off asking if you fell while you were worshiping? Ain't that cool? How many of you got rings? Hey, I've already done three, man. Got 28 steps. Wow. My watch about every Sunday goes off because I I don't know. Anyway, so I'm so glad you're here today.

I feel the spirit of the Lord settling in right now for purpose. It's been confirmed and will be reaffirmed as we move through this today. You can be seated if you feel like you need to. I welcome all of you here. It's always a joy to be in the house of the Lord, isn't it, man? We got so many backgrounds and distinctions between where we're all from. Some of you guys came in here today dragging a great big old box of just stuff. You're trying to figure out what to do. Some of you came in carefree and hands up and walking on sunshine. But we all came today with whatever we came with. We came for the same purpose and same desire. And that simply is this. We have come to worship the Lord. Somebody say in Jesus name. We have come to worship the Lord. Now I I recognize and I am very aware that in a service as we have had to this point that some would feel like you know what we just need to cancel the preaching and move on because I mean didn't God move. That was what it was when we were kids. Man was so good today. We didn't even have preach. Anybody remember that? Yeah. And a pastor would go home with all of his notes and next week we'd get twice the message. Due to the fact that we all have different backgrounds and we all come from different places, every one of us can still tell tell a story of why we love the Lord and why we love to come to the house of the Lord. All of us can follow the voice of God and we all have our own stories of how we enjoy the word and how we accept the word as it's spoken and and and placed into our lives on any given service. I do think too that some of us have been through great trials and valleys that no one could possibly understand. Others have had to give up so much just to stay in your right mind. And still there are others who decided a long time ago, listen to me, that Jesus is the best thing that has ever happened in their life. So we all come for for a reason for something. We come together in the house of the Lord and the focus has to be on Jesus. I wish somebody would say something about the name Jesus.

Along with all of our testimonies, we also carry history into this place. It it puts us into a place of reflection. The power of God that has worked in our lives. As for me, listen to me carefully. This is me today. As for me, I can tell you without a doubt that Jesus has brought me a mighty long way. Me, my family is blessed because of the power of a risen savior. I I know that all of you today could have the same type of testimony. In fact, I thought about trying to bring out an old song and apparently y'all brought them all out. And and and so brother Sam in his same way tried to bring it out like this. Look what the Lord has done. Look what the Lord has done. He healed my body. He touched my mind. He saved me. So I'm going to praise his name. Anybody remember that song? That's an old one. Some of the young folk today were no idea what that is. Anyway, the hour that we live, there's so many things happening. And whether you've known the Lord a short time or a long time, the surroundings in our atmosphere and our culture have set a tone. Listen to me carefully. A lot of folk walk around with questions on their mind and they wonder where God is in their life's situations.

I've discovered, listen carefully, that the longer that you serve the Lord, the more it is possible to forget the reason that he means so much to you. I mean, here it is. We can get so accustomed to the presence of God that we can forget what the day was like when we walked into his power and his presence for the very first time. We can we can become so accustomed to the presence of God here this preacher that we will forget the thrill of serving him and that thrill will begin to diminish. We can get into a regimen into a routine and we we know that coming to the house of the Lord is the right thing to do. We know that coming together as the people of God is the correct way to act. But the fact is is we can lose the joy of serving the Lord. I know of what I speak today because so often as we come to the house of the Lord, testimonies are very weak. And you know, I've I've mentioned it many times from this sacred desk. You know, devil's been on my back all week long. Praise his holy name. Oh, wait. You probably need to pause a little longer there, right? I'm certain that if we could act like we acted the first time that the spirit of God breathed into our lives, if if we could respond to the spirit of God that same way every time we come to the house of the Lord, there would be such a strong signal that would be sent to the world around us that would actually fill up any building that would try to house that excitement and thrill. Because I've come to tell you, when you really love the Lord and you serve the Lord and he gives you strength in your body, there's something about coming in the house of the Lord that OUGHT TO MAKE YOU EXCITED and thrilled at the very possibility that the King of all of creation is about to speak into your situation. And no matter how gloomy or dark it becomes, NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU'RE DRAGGING YOUR OLD SCUMMY BODY ABOUT TRYING TO GET THROUGH LIFE, GOD CAN STAND UP IN THE FACE OF OPPOSITION AND SAY, "I'VE BEEN BETTER TO YOU THAN YOU'VE BEEN TO YOURSELF. I PICKED YOU UP WHEN you couldn't get up. I PUT YOU ON A PATH WHEN YOU COULD NOT FIND THE PATH. OH, CAN I GET CLOSER? I PUT YOU IN A CAR YOU CAN'T AFFORD. I GAVE YOU A JOB YOU DON'T KNOW NOTHING ABOUT. I BLESS YOU WITH GOOD HEALTH. I BLESS YOU IN YOUR RIGHT MIND. COME ON, SOMEBODY. THAT OUGHT TO MAKE YOU THRILLED. EVERY TIME YOU COME INTO THE PRESENCE OF GOD, YOU OUGHT TO KNOW THAT YOU KNOW THAT YOU KNOW HE'S BEEN GOOD TO ME. HE'S BEEN GOOD TO ME. HE'S BEEN GOOD TO ME. AND THE JOY OF THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH. OH, COME ON. SOMEBODY NEEDS TO WAKE UP IN THIS HOUR AND RECOGNIZE THE FACT THAT THE ENEMY IS TRYING TO STIFLE YOUR PRAISE. HE'S TRYING TO MAKE YOU QUIT BELIEVING THAT GOD REALLY CAN BE GOD. UH HE'S TRYING TO CAUSE YOU TO STUMBLE AND FALL WITH YOUR OWN FAILURES. UH AND TELL YOU, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO MAKE IT. BUT I RISE TO THIS PODIUM TODAY AND I TELL SOMEBODY, THE LORD GOD IS ON YOUR SIDE. HE KNOWS WHERE YOU ARE. HE'S STILL GOT A PLAN. UH HEAVEN IS STILL IN VIEW. SALVATION IS STILL UH ONLY IN THE NAME OF JESUS. UH YOU CAN'T GET TO HEAVEN WITHOUT HIM. OH, I FEEL LIKE SOMEBODY NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND THERE'S GOT TO COME A TIME IN YOUR WALK WITH GOD UH WHEN YOUR HANDS GO UP, WHEN YOUR EYES GO UP, WHEN YOUR MOUTH OPEN UP WITH PRAISE TALKING ABOUT THE GOODNESS OF THE LORD. SOMETHING ABOUT THE NAME JESUS. THERE'S JUST SOMETHING ABOUT THE NAME JESUS. THERE'S JUST SOMETHING ABOUT THE NAME JESUS. NO DISTRACTIONS. NOBODY LOOKING AROUND TRYING TO RECEIVE ANY GLORY, TIE ALL THE SKEW, HAIR ALL MESSED UP IF YOU GOT ANY, SHIRT ALL SWEATY, AND ALL YOU WANT TO DO IS SPEND TIME IN THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD. THE OLDTIMES USED TO CALL IT GETTING CAUGHT UP IN THE SPIRIT, GETTING CAUGHT UP IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD. ALL BECAUSE OF A GREAT WONDERFUL THING THAT GOD HAS DONE IN YOUR LIFE. BECAUSE OF HIS PROMISES THAT HE HAS GIVEN to you as we came into this place today. It is true that every one of us bought brought baggage with us. Not talking about your spouse. equally true that every one of us have our woes and our weaknesses. I'm talking about your husband. BUT THANKS BE TO God who when we came into this place, the Lord God was already here. Listen to me. AND HE WASN'T SITTING ON A PEW WITH HIS ARMS CROSSED SAYING WHAT YOU DONE DID THIS WEEK. M HOW MANY TIMES YOU DONE FAILED THIS WEEK. MHM. I KNOW THAT YOU THINK YOU GOING TO GET SOMETHING. THAT'S NOT WHAT HE DOES. BUT WHEN YOU WALK THROUGH THE DOORS OF THE TABERNACLE AND YOU BEGIN TO PROCLAIM THROUGH YOUR TESTIMONY, LOOK WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR ME, THE LORD GOD'S WITH OPEN ARMS SAYING, "AND I GOT MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM. I'VE GOT MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM." IF YOU COULD SIMPLY BELIEVE UH THAT GOD IS SO GOOD, THAT HE'S REALLY BEEN GOOD, UH THAT HE'S ALWAYS GOOD, UH THAT HE'S ALWAYS ON TIME, IF YOU COULD WRAP YOUR MIND AROUND THAT AND RECEIVE IT, GOD, YOU'RE ON MY SIDE AND YOU KNOW MY NAME. 124. We Okay, huh? There there's a Bible story. I KNOW Y'ALL LIKE Bible stories. I know you do. We're going to use one today.

There was a time when the Jews were facing complete and total destruction, one of the many times. And this particular destruction was coming by the hand of the political ruling family of the day. The Jews were to be removed from their places they had attained. They were to be destroyed if they did not give up their walk and their identity. A man from the tribe of Hamadatha, the people of Aag direct enemies to the Jews and in all of the Jewish way of life. His name was Hmon. Hmon. Oh, he was given so much power and authority by King Assasser. He He could do and say and speak anything and everyone had to bow to that. In this time, death was certain. Destruction was PLANNED AND THE MOMENT of grief and uncertainty was surely going to unfold. Y'all hang on to pastor for a moment. BUT THIS BEAUTIFUL YOUNG LADY NAMED ESTHER, she rose to THE SURFACE OF THE JEWISH POPULATION. AND FOR SOME REASON, HER CLOSE FAMILY MEMBER MORAYI, THE THIS YOUNG LADY CAUGHT THE EYE OF THAT KING AND WAS INVITED TO COME INTO HIS PRESENCE. Listen carefully to the story, y'all. Y'all know this story. Give me a moment here to talk about it. We know that in the book OF ESTHER IN YOUR BIBLE THAT THIS WAS a true test for the Jewish population. They were going to be wiped out. Yet this young lady took the situation to heart and made herself presentable to this king who was going to DESTROY THEM. AND SHE GAINED his attention. AND HE WAS SO ENAMORED BY THIS BEAUTY QUEEN THAT HER PRESENTATION, let me just read it to you. to the book of Esther 4:13. Moray commanded to answer Esther, think not with thyself that thou should escape the king's house more than all the Jews. Verse 14, for if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall their enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place, but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed. And who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? It doesn't look good. In fact, it looks very intimidating and scary. But this young lady, Esther, she decides within herself, "Not really sure that I understand this time, and I'm not really sure that I comprehend this place. But one thing I do know, I will not sit idly by and allow my people to be destroyed BECAUSE I'M AFRAID TO RISE TO THE OCCASION and step into the king's palace. Listen carefully. Esther, she went in and she moved into the space WHERE SHE WAS INVITED. THERE WAS NOTHING POMP OR CIRCUMSTANCE about her. There was nothing that was great and honorable about her. Simply this is that she came into the presence of the king and THE KING PUT EYES on her and HER BEAUTY AND SOMETHING BEGAN to connect between that king and Esther. Something began to unfold that nobody COULD EXPLAIN. I RISE TO this pullpit again today to simply tell you this IN THE STORY THAT WE SEE AS it is revealed and as it unfolds THAT SOMETHING HAPPENED WHEN MORAYI ASSISTED ESTHER IN TURNING WHAT HMON WANTED TO DO TURNED IT UPSIDE DOWN TOWARDS AND AGAINST HMON. THE ENTIRE LISTEN to the entire family of Hmon ACCORDING TO THE STORY IN ESTHER WAS COMPLETELY ANNIHILATED AND WIPED OUT. THEY WERE HUNG BY THE GALLOWS THAT WERE MEANT TO KILL THE JEWS. I RISE TODAY TO TELL SOMEBODY UH THERE'S A STORY IN THE WORD OF GOD THAT TELLS US UH THAT IN DESPERATION AND DESPAIR WHEN IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE WHEN THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT THE ATMOSPHERE THAT SHOULD CAUSE YOU TO BE AFRAID AND RUN IF YOU'LL TAKE THE FOCUS OF WHERE YOU ARE AND THE POSSIBILITY OF DESTRUCTION AND YOU'LL SPIN IT AROUND, LISTEN TO ME, AND YOU'LL BEGIN TO DECIDE WITHIN YOURSELF UH I CHOOSE UH TO DO WHAT THE LORD GOD HAS CALLED ME TO DO IN THIS HOUR. REGARDLESS OF WHAT MY COWORKER SAYS, REGARDLESS OF WHAT HAPPENS ON MY JOB, REGARDLESS OF WHAT TRANSPIRES IN MY CLASSROOM, DOESN'T MATTER WHAT SOCIAL MEDIA SAYS. ALL I KNOW IS THIS. I AM IN THE KINGDOM NOW. I AM PRESENT HERE NOW. THEREFORE, I WILL CHOOSE TO SAY UH I BELIEVE THAT THE HAND OF GOD IS ON MY LIFE. I BELIEVE UH THAT I HAVE A WITNESS AND A TESTIMONY. AND THERE AIN'T A DEVIL IN HELL GOING TO TAKE MY TESTIMONY NOR GOING TO CHANGE MY WORSHIP. YOU DON'T HAVE TO COAX ME UH INTO WORSHIPING THE LORD. UH I'M GOING TO WORSHIP HIM BECAUSE HE'S BEEN GOOD TO ME. UH I'M GOING TO LOVE HIM BECAUSE OF WHAT HE'S DONE IN MY LIFE. UH I'M GOING TO SERVE HIM BECAUSE HE'S GOD AND HE'S GOOD. Y'ALL, y'all know why pastor don't have a chair on the platform. Y'all don't need to see me up here. You need to see me down here. Why? Because you know what? THERE ARE NO BIG EYES, NO LITTLE U'S. BUT the Lord is looking for those who will worship him and will worship him in spirit and in truth. And the TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS, CAN I GO OLD SCHOOL ONE MORE TIME? YOU DON'T KNOW LIKE I KNOW WHAT HE'S DONE FOR ME. YOU DON'T KNOW LIKE I KNOW WHAT HE'S DONE FOR ME. YOU DON'T KNOW LIKE I KNOW WHAT HE'S DONE FOR ME. HE'S TAKEN MY SINS AWAY.

Perspective changes any situation. Perspective changes everything. Oh, come on, somebody. They they asked old Mr. Bell when he invented that great big old light bulb thingy. Man, took you long and you No, I didn't. I never failed. I never messed up. I just figured out 500 ways that wouldn't work. Doesn't works. See, a lot of us would want to focus on what we didn't have. I don't know. I don't know. And everybody say, "Yeah, you think you're an inventor." And all you know, some of some of the world would look at you. Somebody in this room might even look at you and say, "I don't know why you up acting a fool. I don't know why you up with your hands up because I know who you are. I know where you came from. I know what your life was like." No, you don't. That's right. No, you don't. You may know me at youth camp and you may know me at Walmart. But I come to tell every one of y'all, if you doubt it, you were not there in the prayer room when the Lord smashed me to the floor and begin to deal with my heart and change something with me. You weren't there. You weren't there when THE BREATH OF GOD began to breathe into MY LUNGS AND I DIDN'T HAVE NO other option but to get up and SERVE THE LORD. THAT WASN'T YOU. That was me sitting there with the PRESENCE OF GOD. Y'ALL WEREN'T THERE THE NIGHT I LAID ON MY PRAYER ROOM FLOOR of my house as a young married man trying to understand where the will of AND THE POWER OF GOD WAS ONLY TO HAVE HIM DISAPPEAR FROM MY PRESENCE AND NOT SHOW UP IN MY OFFICE. Y'ALL WEREN'T THERE THE NIGHT I LAID ON THE FLOOR DESPERATELY SCREAMING AND CRYING TRYING TO BREATHE BECAUSE THE HOLY GHOST POWER HAD LEFT MY OFFICE AND I'M SCREAMING, "GOD, WHERE ARE YOU? WHERE ARE YOU? WHERE ARE YOU? I CAN'T FEEL YOU. I DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU ARE. MY HEART'S HURTING. MY MIND'S BROKEN. MY SPIRIT LOOKS FOR YOU. UH, AND FOR MINUTES AND MINUTES ON END, I LAY THERE ON THE FLOOR SAYING, "WHERE ARE YOU, GOD? WHERE ARE YOU, GOD?" AND AS I SAT THERE THAT NIGHT, I'M RECALLING TO YOU MY STORY. THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD BEGAN TO MOVE IN MY OFFICE. AND THE BREATH OF GOD REFILLED MY OFFICE. I'M TELLING YOU THE TRUTH. AND WHEN I INHALED, THE POWER OF GOD WAS THERE. AND AS TEARS WERE STREAMING DOWN MY FACE AND I'M SPEAKING IN TONGUES, THE GLORY OF THE LORD SIMPLY SAID TO ME, I WANTED YOU TO FEEL WHAT THEY FEEL. THEY'RE ALONE. THEY HAVE NO HOPE. THEY HAVE NO TRUTH. THEY HAVE NO LOVE. NOW, YOU KNOW THE DESPERATION. AND I GRABBED A HOLD OF IT, BROTHER RICHARD, AND I BEGIN TO ROLL WITH IT ON THE FLOOR IN MY OFFICE. I'LL NEVER LET YOU GO. I'LL NEVER LET YOU GO. AND I'LL TELL THE WORLD THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS JESUS. YOU WEREN'T THERE THAT NIGHT. Perspective changes all things. Okay. Esther, cool story. Y'all with me?

Chapter nine, verse 18. But the Jew, this is so cool. But the Jews that were at Shushon assembled together on the 13th day thereof, the 14th thereof, 15th. Somebody say specifics. I mean, you know, God's a God of specifics. I mean, the Bible could have just said they were there for a couple days. They rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness. Therefore, the Jews of the villages that dwelt in the unwalled towns made the 14th day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting and a good day and of sending portions one to another. Here's where I am today with what the Lord has given me. They had no certainty that they would ever live in victory. But after somebody submitted themselves to the workings of God, they now, Sister Renee, are leaving this place with gladness. The enemy thought he had me. But God came in on the scene. Brother Lorenzo, ENEMY THOUGHT I WAS DOWN AND OUT. BUT I'M GLAD RIGHT NOW. I SHOULD HAVE LOST MY MIND. I should have been PUSHED BY THE WAYSIDE. THE ENEMY SHOULD HAVE COME in and destroyed me. But when HE CAME IN LIKE A FLOOD TRYING TO STOP ME, THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD RAISED UP A BANNER AT THAT MOMENT AND BEGIN TO DECLARE, "THIS IS NOT YOURS, DEVIL. THIS IS MINE." THEREFORE, HE FILLED HEARTS WITH GLADNESS. UH HE ALLOWED THEM TO RECOGNIZE THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS SIMPLY THIS. I MIGHT NOT KNOW HOW THINGS ARE GOING TO TURN OUT. BUT I AM GLAD THAT I'M IN THE HAND OF THE MASTER. I MIGHT NOT HAVE A SOLUTION TO WHERE I'M GOING TO BE TOMORROW. BUT I KNOW THAT MY LIFE UH IS IN THE HAND OF THE MASTER. I'VE COME TO TELL SOMEBODY THEY WERE GLAD. WHY? BECAUSE PERSPECTIVE CHANGES EVERYTHING. AND AS THEY BEGIN TO LOOK AT THE WAY THAT GOD DELIVERED THEM, THE ONLY THING THEY COULD SAY, "YES, YOU READY? HE HAS MADE ME GLAD. HE HAS MADE ME GLAD. I WILL REJOICE FOR HE HAS MADE ME GLAD." THAT'S ANOTHER OLD ONE. READY? HE HAS MADE ME GLAD. HE HAS MADE ME GLAD. I WILL REJOICE FOR HE HAS MADE ME GLAD. YOU CAN FOCUS ON THE HURTS AND THE NEGATIVE IF YOU WANT TO, BUT THE ONLY THING YOU'RE GOING TO WIND UP WITH IS A BROKEN HEART AND A BUNCH OF BUSTED UP PIECES. OR YOU CAN LOOK AT IT AND THE PERSPECTIVE AND LOOK WHAT GOD IS DOING IN MY LIFE. YOU DON'T HAVE TO LOVE PAIN. YOU DON'T HAVE TO LOVE SUFFERING. BUT IF YOU'LL LOVE GOD THROUGH IT, THE LORD GOD WILL SHOW UP WHEN YOU NEED HIM MOST. IT DOES NOT MINIMIZE YOUR DAILY OBSTACLES. IT DOES NOT MINIMIZE YOUR CHALLENGES, YOUR HURTS, AND THE HANG-UPS YOU HAVE. BUT I'VE COME TO TELL YOU, IF YOU'LL SWAP THAT FOCUS AROUND AND BEGIN TO PROCLAIM, "THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE, I WILL REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT. I'M GLAD. I'M GLAD. I'M GLAD. I'M GLAD. I'M GLAD.

MAN, the psalmist was so cool at this. Glad gladness is over 150 times in your scriptures. Over 50 times in the psalmist. Psalm 91. I will praise thee, oh Lord, with my whole heart. I will show forth all thy marvelous works. I WILL BE GLAD AND REJOICE IN THEE. I will sing praise to thy name, oh thou most high. I WILL BE GLAD. PSALM 311. THOU HAST TURNED FOR ME my mourning INTO DANCING. THEN HAVE THOU HAST PUT OFF MY SACKCLOTH AND GIRDED ME WITH GLADNESS. UH TO THE END MY GLORY MAY SING PRAISE TO THEE UH AND BE NOT SILENT. OH LORD MY GOD, I WILL GIVE THANKS TO THEE FOREVER. HE DRESSED YOU IN GLADNESS. COME ON. PSALM 130 122 AND1. I WAS GLAD WHEN THEY SAID UNTO ME, "LET US GO INTO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD." I'M GLAD. I'M GLAD. I'M GLAD.

Putting this together this morning, trying to finalize my notes. Listen to pastor for a moment. I'm reaching for somebody. The spirit of the Lord confirmed it an hour ago while y'all were worshiping and loving the Lord. Some of us have become so hardened to the moving of God because we have expectations that are not met and we have lost our joy and we stop being glad. I stand in that corner intentionally. Number one, it keeps me away from all the distraction. Number two, it makes me look at your face with all the distraction. I know oxymoron. I'm the Listen to me. I'm looking at what God has done in some of your lives. You ought to have been done, lost your mind. God came in and changed and did something in you that you don't at all deserve. And you come into the house of the Lord and the very breath of God is breathing and moving in and out of these pews. And every listen to me, every one of us have a choice to make. He has made me glad. I will rejoice for He has made me glad. He has made me glad on the occasional. He has made me glad. I will rejoice for he has made me glad. May a friend you know that would ever come to your church because of your gladness, they got enough sorrow and sin in their life. Y'all going to let me help for a minute. Won't you tell me, "Pastor, I love you." Some of y'all think that I'm faking it. Think what you want to. I don't care. Some of y'all think that I'm being insensitive because I look at you and you say, "Look what I'm going through." And I said, "That's an opportunity for the hand of God to move." But it hurts. I know it does. But you keep trusting God. You keep trusting God. And some of you guys will relate re relay to me. Look, pastor, I prayed for this and it happened. AND I'M LIKE, WHAT DID YOU EXPECT TO HAPPEN? DID YOU THINK THAT GOD WAS GOING TO GO LA? OR DID YOU honestly believe that WHEN YOU PRAYED FOR THAT BACKSLIDER TO COME HOME THAT THEY WERE ACTUALLY GOING to come home? Come on. Some of us can't be glad because we're trying to fix God so THAT HE CAN FIX OUR PROBLEMS. GOD, IF YOU'D LISTEN TO ME, I do. On Monday morning, we got an 8:00 council meeting AND I TALKED TO YOU ABOUT THIS STUFF. AND THE LORD GOD SAID, I DID NOT ASK YOU HOW TO PUT A STAR IN HEAVEN. I DIDN'T ASK YOU HOW TO MAKE A COW MOO. I DIDN'T ASK YOU HOW TO MAKE A BIRD FLY. I DON'T CARE THAT YOU DON'T KNOW HOW THE BEES MAKE HONEY. BUT ONE THING I DO KNOW, IF YOU'LL TRUST ME, UH, I CAN DO ANYTHING THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND ABOVE WHAT YOU CAN ASK OR THINK. I CAN MAKE THINGS HAPPEN THAT MAKE NO SENSE TO YOU. LISTEN, I HAVE BEEN IN TOO MANY SITUATIONS. I SHOULD HAVE DIED. I KNOW THAT. BUT THE HAND OF THE LORD PUSHED MY CAR THAT WAY. THE HAND OF THE LORD SAYS, "STOP." THE HAND THE HAND THE VOICE OF GOD GAVE ME A FLAT TIRE. CALL IT WHAT YOU WANT TO. AND MAYBE DELAY MYSELF 10 MINUTES AND UP THE ROAD THERE'S AN ACCIDENT. YOU CALL IT WHAT YOU WANT TO. BUT WHAT I BELIEVE IS HE'S MAKING ME GLAD. UH HE'S MAKING ME TO REJOICE. UH BECAUSE HE'S A GOOD GOD. UH HE KNOWS WHERE WHO I AM. UH HE'S GOT MY NAME AND HIS MIND. UH HE KNOWS ABOUT ME. HE HAS MADE ME GLAD. GLAD. All right. Glad by definition, in case you don't know, it is not wrap for bread. Thank you. Glad, experiencing pleasure, joy, delight, made blissful, pleased, and cheerful. Glad. Here's the thing. Some of us have forgotten about salvation making us glad. See, again, I know I'm the weird guy in the room. I know. Listen to me carefully. We can talk about all the bad, the negative, the down and out and the hurts and all that stuff. We can fact we got groups that talk about that. Perfect. We got we got folk that are trained and challenged to help you to look at you and to talk about what you're going through. I get that. Come on. People sometimes ask me about stuff and I have no idea how to help them. I can just go. All right. If you ever been in an office looking for counsel, I'll go. That's what my pastor said. I don't know. I don't know. This is what I can say to you. What' the Lord say to you?

Y'all Y'all remember my little granny, don't you? Y'all never met her. Sorry. If you'll make it to heaven, go find her. She's the one that's around the throne bugging him to death. Okay, that's that's her. 411. 411. Sister Yuna, she was so full of the Holy Ghost, I was afraid to cross her in any way, shape, or form. Come on, Sam. You know what grandma can do. Sam's grandmother prayed for somebody die one time and they died. I don't understand that. Now y'all are afraid. Granny got this situation going on my life. Got a dish towel in her hand, Jesse. She's always in the kitchen. Well, baby, did you pray about it? Yeah, granny. I talked. No, no, no. I asked if you prayed about it. You asked me. That's the same thing. No, it's not because I'm going to give you some advice. Baby, you need to pray through that. I did pray. No, no, no. Are you still in it? Yes, ma'am. Then you haven't prayed through it. See, you want me to come in and pull you out of it, but God didn't give me this testimony. He gave it to you, Raymond. I'm telling you right now, if you'll find your place under the carpet in an altar and begin to pray, God is going to pull you through this situation. It might take you weeks, months, or even years to get through it. But what you're going to find at the end of it is this. Didn't nobody deliver me but the hand of the Lord. I can't tell nobody THAT'S A GOOD MAN, A GOOD WOMAN. BUT I CAN look at THE LORD GOD AND SAY, "WHEN I WAS BUSTED, BROKEN DOWN, AND OUT, DIDN'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO. I WAS TAUGHT TO PRAY THROUGH THE SITUATION. I'M STILL GOING TO SHOW UP AT THE CROSS. I'M STILL GOING TO BE THERE AT AN ALTAR. I'M STILL GOING TO LOVE THE LORD WHEN NOBODY ELSE WILL. AND WHEN EVERYBODY LOOKS AT ME WITH A HAIRY EYEBALL, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? I'M GOING TO BE THAT GUY THAT'S LOUDEST. I'M GOING TO BE THAT GUY THAT'S PRAYING HARDEST. WHY? IT'S NOT ABOUT ME. IT'S ABOUT HIM. AND I'VE GOT TO BE GLAD IN THE NAME OF JESUS. I'VE GOT TO BE GLAD BECAUSE HE KNOWS WHERE I AM. AND HE'S GOING TO SEE ME THROUGH. UH HE'S NOT DESTROYING ME. HE'S NOT TRYING TO KILL ME. IF HE WOULD, I'D ALREADY BE DEAD. BUT HE'S NOT. HE'S TRYING TO SAY, "I AM GIVING YOU A TESTIMONY SO THAT YOU CAN GO AND TELL SOMEBODY, I SHOULD HAVE LOST MY MIND, BUT INSTEAD, I'M GLAD THAT I KNOW HIM. HUH? You got to choose to be glad. Somebody gladness don't come and smack you. Say, "Hey, take me on." You got to choose to be glad. You know, Lord, help me stay on track. 147 for us clock watchers. Huh? Years ago, book came out. Happiness is a choice. There were some so many people offended by that. And you know how I know it because I would counsel folk trying to help them as I thought I could. And their situations all busted, broken, messed up, marriages in disarray, children are can't keep a job, can't keep money in their account. And I could look at two or three things and anybody in this room and anybody I can look at two or three things in your life and I can tell you what's wrong. I'm not the smartest guy. I'm not the sharpest knife, but I can tell you this. If you're not a giver to the things of God, he won't bless you with what you have. He won't. He can't. That is contrary to who he is. So, if you don't have money in your bank this morning, you need to get a hold of God and say, "God, help me be a giver." Because Lord, if I will give, you will give. He'll not I'm on I'm on a I'm on a box right now. He'll not only give it back to you, he'll give it back to you pressed down, shaken together, AND RUNNING OVER. LISTEN TO IT. OUT OF MEN'S BOSOMS HE'LL GIVE. COME ON. GOD DON'T HAVE TO COME DOWN AND HAND YOU A HUNDRED. SOMEBODY WILL COME UP. I'M TELLING YOU WHAT I KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT TODAY. I CAN LOOK AT THE TIME YOU SPEND. DO YOU TALK TO GOD DURING THE WEEK OR DO YOU WAIT FOR Wednesday night and save it all up? Or do you COME IN AT THE LAST MINUTE TO CHURCH AND WONDER ON A SUNDAY, I DON'T KNOW WHY I CAN'T HEAR FROM GOD. I GOT HERE 30 SECONDS AFTER SERVICE started and ever SINCE I COME THROUGH THE DOOR, I'VE NOT HAD MY MIND ON. I DON'T KNOW WHY GOD WON'T TALK TO ME. I'M NOT SUCKING CORN TODAY. I'M NOT TRYING TO GUILT NOBODY and nothing. I'm going to tell YOU THIS. HE HAS MADE me glad because I chose to give my life and to do what the Lord has asked me to do and to joyfully say rejoice in you because in your presence is THERE AIN'T NO ROOM FOR NOTHING ELSE BUT IT'S FULLNESS of joy. I was glad when they said unto me. Remember that one. I was glad when What key is that in Tim? Key of R. Okay. I was glad when they said unto me. What is this? Let us go into the house. The old-timers would rar back. So glad. So glad. So very glad. He go her. I was glad when they said unto me. Come on Tim, you know it. I was glad. Come on. GLAD THAT THEY USED TO SING THOSE SONG. NOW WE GOT TO SING about I I get it, man. I do. But that's just one of my thing. I'm saying, Lord, you can't be glad doing that. I know what it's like to see somebody with no legs in a wheelchair pushing it with one arm down the street and say, "I am so blessed because I got one good arm." It's all about your perspective.

We have to update our software, church. Some of us need to plug in to the source and say, "All right, for you Windows users, control altdelete. Reboot it." Huh? All right, Microsoft guys, wait for the Tuesday updates. All right, on your I'm trying. I don't know. I'm 60 plus and I'm trying to figure out how to communicate this to anybody. You got to let the app do its job in your life. But the thing about the app is I just did this morning. Boy, brother Sam, bless his heart. He don't even know what to do. He comes in early, tries to get away from me. He did this morning. I said, "Sam, Sam Sam, Sam S. ain't working." And he he's so graceful. And he makes me mad. Ethan, he gets the professor of software. Huh? It ain't working. And he say he had the audacity drawn to tell me you need to update your software. iOS the latest and then okay and I look at it and my cloud's not working. I'M LIKE I DON'T EVEN GOT A WHAT IS A CLOUD? Come on. Come on. Some of you young folk think that phones just fell out of heaven. THAT AIN'T TRUE. SOMEBODY HAD TO engineer that thing. Somebody had to design that thing. So I'm sitting in my mind trying to figure out who was the guy in the room that thought this was a good idea. We need a few minutes to talk. Come on, Eli. Don't Don't leave me yet. We need room to talk. Come on. Get your legal pad out and hand me that pencil. This is how it needs to work. Listen to me. Listen to me. Listen to me. See, some of us want to come in and we want we want for the blessings of God to be in our lives, but we don't want to have to download what is required to sustain what God's desiring to do in your life. How do you get that? I'll tell you how. You get in an altar. You bow your knee to the Lord. Would you plant your face in the ground and say, "Lord, times are a changing, but you are not." And if I'm going to make it in this hour, Lord, I've got to learn now how to deal with things without the taste of mana in my mouth. I've got to learn, Lord, how to drink from a fountain in a well that's been dug and not from a rock that you provided. I've got to I've got to change some things in my mind. I was glad over there, Lord. And I I I don't know why, but all those dead bodies around me while we walked around and all these older folks died off. And now I'm standing here. I have no idea what I'm doing. And the Lord God saying, "You going to drink from wells, eat from vineyards, live in houses that you had nothing to do with." You're welcome. Now, are you glad? Huh? Yeah. We're so glad. We're going to go Lord, I'm getting sidetracked already. We're going to go mingle with the enemy. We're going to marry wives and do things that we shouldn't be doing. And the Lord saying, "I know. And now you're going to have troubles like you never knew." Anybody remember THE STORY OF WE WANT A KING. You want a who? We want a king. All right. You're going to do things that you have no idea what's happening, but you're asking for it. Last this

Psalm 100 musician, would you come? Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all you lands. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord, he is God. It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into HIS GATES WITH THANKSGIVING AND into his courts WITH PRAISE. BE THANKFUL UNTO HIM. BLESS HIS NAME FOR THE LORD IS GOOD. His mercy is everlasting and his truth endureth to ALL GENERATIONS. COME TO ASK SOMEBODY TODAY, UH, ARE YOU SERVING THE LORD WITH GLADNESS? OR ARE YOU WEARY AND TIRED SITTING ON A CHURCH PEW BECAUSE YOU CAN'T SEEM TO FEEL THE GLORY OF GOD AS IT BREATHES INTO THIS ROOM? COME ON. I COME TO tell you THERE'S AN ALTAR UP HERE TODAY THAT YOU CAN BEGIN TO SAY, "YOU KNOW WHAT, LORD? I NEED A CHANGE of attitude. I NEED TO READJUST MY MIND AND I NEED TO LOOK WHAT YOU'RE DOING IN MY LIFE AND THOSE AROUND ME. IF YOU WANTED ME DEAD, LORD, YOU WOULD HAVE KILLED ME ALREADY. BUT YOU DON'T. YOU'RE TRYING TO SHOW ME WITH LOVE ONE MORE TIME YOUR MERCY AND GRACE. AND AS IT WORKS IN MY LIFE, HE HAS MADE ME GLAD. I CAME IN THANKFUL. I CAME IN GRATEFUL. I CAME IN REJOICING, SAYING, "THE LORD HAS BEEN GOOD TO ME.

Bow your head. Pray with me. Lord Jesus, Spirit of the living God, I call on you right now. I believe you, Lord. You can move in every heart and every home represented in this room. I'm trusting you, Lord God, that you can complete the work that you started in this service earlier." As we begin to rejoice and love you, Lord, I pray that something would happen within our hearts and expectations would change. Anticipation, Lord God, would grow as we would know, Lord, when we come together in the house of the Lord, great wonderful things can transpire. The dead can be raised to life. Uh the hurt can be healed. Uh those walking, Lord God, with crutches can be healed. Uh those blinded eyes can be opened. We believe Lord for the impossible that you can do it. And we trust you, Lord God, that if we pray for it, Lord, you will hear us. And even if the answer is no, even if the situation doesn't change here, our attitudes, God, we can change them. And we can love you, Lord, in the midnight. We can love you, Lord, at noon time. And we can decide to be glad in the presence of the Lord. I've come today to ask somebody, church, if you'll SERVE THE LORD WITH GLADNESS, WHAT do you expect for him to do in you? What do YOU EXPECT FOR HIM TO RELEASE in you? Uh if you want to serve THE LORD WITH GLADNESS, JUMP TO YOUR FEET RIGHT NOW. THIS ALTAR'S OPEN. THEY'RE going to play a song. IF YOU DON'T YET HAVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST, THIS DAY IS FOR YOU. HE CAN MAKE YOU GLAD. He can do something in you. You can choose the power of a risen savior to work in your life. COME ON. YOU DON'T HAVE TO SERVE THE LORD WITH DREGERY. YOU DON'T HAVE TO SERVE THE LORD WITH A FROWN. YOU CAN SERVE HIM WITH GLADNESS, REJOICING AT THE SHEER IDEA that he loves you in spite of you, that he has an answer for all of your situations.