Beyond the Straw: Building a Faith That Endures

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:05:08] Good morning, everybody. Welcome. We're so glad that you're here. You're quite chatty today. I like that on this brisk morning. Hopefully, this is the last bit of our winter, yeah?
[00:05:19] Welcome. We're so glad that you're here. And to our online family and friends, we are glad that you're here as well and hope that you experience Christ in an amazing way and worship with us.
[00:05:28] For those of you that are here, please sign in on the attendance pads. Pass those down the row so that everybody can get signed in.
[00:05:33] And I just wanted to let you know of a few things that we have coming up.
[00:05:37] One, on April 1st, we are doing a church-wide cleanup on Saturday, April 1st, from 8 to noon.
[00:05:45] And if you're available and willing to help with that, we would love it.
[00:05:48] We are going to be cleaning inside and outside.
[00:05:51] So there's those options.
[00:05:53] And if you are available to help, it would really help us out if you will sign up in advance so that we can plan work projects according to how many folks are able to come.
[00:06:00] So sign up at the Connection Center out front.
[00:06:02] also we have a kairos um walk a prison ministry walk going on here in the next few weeks and so we have a kairos prayer vigil if you're available to sign up and pray for this ministry we would
[00:06:15] love to have you join in that and they're also looking for cookies um i think they said like 300 dozen cookies so um if you like to bake or even if you don't like to bake but you can
[00:06:28] you want to make some cookies make some cookies and bring them up here we would love to have it and it's just you gotta you gotta understand homemade cookies in the prison what kind of
[00:06:38] gift is that is that God's love I think it is so if you're able to do that I encourage you to do that and then lastly I wanted to remind you that also on Holy Thursday Holy Week in April Thursday
[00:06:48] is called Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday we are going to have a Seder meal and it's at six o'clock and it's in the fellowship hall.
[00:06:55] This is in place of our usual worship that we do at seven o'clock.
[00:06:59] So we won't be having worship here at seven o'clock on Thursday.
[00:07:02] If you want to participate on Thursday, Holy Thursday, you'll need to sign up to participate in the Seder meal.
[00:07:08] You need to sign up because there's limited seating.
[00:07:10] We can only seat 120 people.
[00:07:13] So if you want to be part of that, I encourage you to sign up early and enjoy this new opportunity to learn something new about our faith.
[00:07:21] Sound good?
[00:07:23] All right, well, let's set our hearts ready for worship with this call to worship.

[00:11:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:11:58] Morning, church family and online church family.
[00:12:01] It's good to see all of y'all here this morning.
[00:12:03] Why don't you take a minute and greet some of the people around you.
[00:12:05] Try to find someone you hadn't met before and make them feel welcome.
[00:13:25] You're happy and you know it.
[00:13:26] Clap your hands.
[00:13:28] Y'all are amazing.
[00:13:29] Oh, we're going to sing a couple of hymns.
[00:13:32] Our first hymn this morning is Trust and Obey.
[00:16:53] So we should trust and obey him.
[00:16:54] Amen.

[00:21:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:21:23] You can be seated.
[00:21:24] Indeed, part of what worship is all about is intentionally making Jesus our vision and where we focus our attention because we come to worship Him.
[00:21:38] And in coming to Him in prayer with anything and everything that we may have in our hearts and minds, we do the same thing in a different way, but again, it is something that lifts
[00:21:49] Him, exalts Him because we recognize our weakness and His strength in the midst of that.
[00:21:56] join together in prayer by using the words that are in the bulletin and on the screen.
[00:22:05] God of the ages, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we sing your praises for you are worthy.
[00:22:14] You are beyond the reach of our minds, having all power, knowledge, and wisdom, perfectly good, present everywhere, just and merciful, good beyond definition. You are gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. You stoop down low to reveal yourself to us
[00:22:41] as the man Jesus, so we could catch a glimpse of who you really are. And what we see takes away a breath away. We are in awe. We are grateful, and we love you. May our worship put a smile
[00:22:58] on your face and point others toward you. Lord, hear our prayers. Lord, we're here this morning because you deserve our worship. Because of who you are and all you have done, we owe you all that
[00:23:56] we are and all that we have. And so we come and we offer ourselves in this act of worship, our hearts and minds, our voices, our hands. And as we go from this place, Lord, we pray that
[00:24:18] you would help us to continue to offer ourselves in the way we live every day. Let our lives be in active worship, because that's what you deserve, 24-7 adoration. But even with all that you are
[00:24:40] and all that you have done from the beginning of time until this very moment, we are still broken people. We live in a broken world. We need your help. And it'll be that way until your kingdom
[00:24:53] comes. And even then, it will only be because of you. So we lift up our needs, our fears and hopes we pray that you would hear us and answer in ways that bless people and glorify you
[00:25:13] we lift up Chuck and Susan Roach's niece and her children and husband who were injured in an auto accident we ask Lord that your hand would be on them that you would be pouring strength into them
[00:25:31] for their recovery and healing that you'd bring them back home soon we pray for someone who is having a total knee replacement we ask that you would be with her bring her encouragement and hope take away any
[00:25:53] fears that she might have and let her know that at surgery time you will be her great physician guiding the hands of her surgeon we pray for a friend of Alan Bush where a husband and father has died from leukemia we ask that you would
[00:26:22] be with his widow, his children. Let them know your presence in the midst of their grief. Walk them through this, Lord, and bring them to the other side where eventually they can actually have a sense of celebration for him and the knowledge that he is with you. We continue to
[00:26:50] pray for Michael Rico, who is recovering from brain surgery. We thank you that all has gone well up to this point and we pray that you would be with him walk him through this and help that
[00:27:03] healing process to be hurried along and lord we thank you for a new baby boy born into this world we lift up michaela langer killow and her husband clay who had a baby boy yesterday
[00:27:21] archer stanton we ask your blessing on all of them that they would be a family that puts a smile on your face. We lift up the people in southern Malawi as they are working to recover
[00:27:39] from a cyclone. We pray for those with whom we are ministry partners who are traveling to the harmed areas. Help them not just be engaged in humanitarian help, as important as that is, but to have that as an opportunity to lift up your name.
[00:28:07] We thank you, Lord, for hearing our prayers.
[00:28:09] We thank you for what you have already done and what you will do.
[00:28:13] We pray that you'd work in ways that we can recognize what it is and that we'd have the courage to speak it out and tell other people what we see, that they can know how good you are.
[00:28:26] We pray with expectation for good things because you taught us to pray.
[00:28:30] When you taught the words, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive
[00:28:47] those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen. Well, now is the time any children
[00:29:02] in the room who are between three years old and first grade, you go meet Miss Carol at the back door there, and she'll take you out to children's church time. And we will see you guys back in the
[00:29:12] room as we're singing our final hymn. I hope you have a great time and learn a lot about Jesus.
[00:29:18] For the rest of us, we remain in the room, continue to worship God in song.
[00:29:22] And as we're singing this next song together, if you have your offering with you this morning, You can bring it to the altar and lay it in the plate, sort of a token reminder of offering of
[00:29:33] your entire self, all that you are and all that you have in worship for God. Please stand, let's

[00:29:43] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:29:43] worship together.
[00:30:45] You can be seated.

[00:37:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:37:01] We sing songs from a variety of different eras, some of them what we call traditional, some of them more contemporary, but one of the things we do that is part of the ancient church is to remind ourselves of the core of our faith by using the Apostles' Creed.
[00:37:20] Let's say that together.
[00:37:22] I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. The third day he rose from the dead,
[00:37:43] he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
[00:37:48] From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church the communion of saints the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting amen well as most of you know during the season of lent we have been
[00:38:11] recalling stories that we learned in childhood stories that were read to us or told to us by our parents even a nursery rhyme that we might know ring around the rosy pocket full of posy
[00:38:24] ashes to ashes, we all fall down. I wonder, do parents still tell these stories to their children today? Do these get circulated out there? I wonder, because I've started telling some of these to our grandkids when they come and stay with us. It's one of the things, they have a ritual of
[00:38:44] Jill reads a book and then reads another book, and then I tell stories while they're laying in bed, and one of the ones they love is the three little pigs.
[00:38:57] Of course, since they're both into unicorns, it started out as the three little unicorns, but I've kind of morphed over to pigs.
[00:39:05] And that's the one we're telling today.
[00:39:09] Once upon a time, there was an old mother pig who had three little piglets but not enough food to feed them.
[00:39:16] So when they were old enough, she sent them out into the world to seek their fortune.
[00:39:19] The first little pig was very lazy And he didn't want to work at all And so he built his house out of straw The second little pig worked a little bit harder But not too hard, somewhat lazy
[00:39:33] And he built his house of sticks And then he sang and danced and played They played together for the rest of the day The third little pig worked hard all day long And built a house with bricks
[00:39:47] It was a sturdy house, complete with a fine fireplace and chimney.
[00:39:51] It looked like it could withstand the strongest winds.
[00:39:55] The next day, a wolf happened to pass by on the lane where the three little pigs lived.
[00:40:02] And he saw the straw house, and he smelled a pig inside.
[00:40:06] And he thought the pig would make a mighty fine meal, and his mouth began to water.
[00:40:12] So he knocked on the door, and he said, do you remember what he said?
[00:40:18] Say it with me.
[00:40:20] Little pig, little pig, let me in.
[00:40:24] And the little pig said, no, no, no, not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin, I won't let you in.
[00:40:31] And the wolf answered, then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house down.
[00:40:39] So he huffed.
[00:40:40] You're pretty good.
[00:40:41] I'm glad.
[00:40:41] I'm proud.
[00:40:42] he huffed and he puffed and he blew the house down the wolf opened his jaws very wide and bit down as hard as he could but the first little pig escaped and ran away to hide with the second
[00:40:54] little pig in his house of sticks the wolf continued down the lane and came to the second house made of sticks and he smelled pigs inside and his mouth began to water and he thought what
[00:41:07] a fine dinner they would be. So he knocked on the door and said, little pig, little pig, let me in.
[00:41:16] Now, I didn't write this down, but every time I say that line, do you know what visual I get?
[00:41:24] Jack Nicholson in The Shining. Little pig, little pigs, let me in, right? Little pig says, no, no, no, not by the hair of my chinny chin chin, I won't let you in. Then I'll huff and I'll puff
[00:41:43] and I'll blow your house down. So he huffed and he puffed and he blew the house down. The wolf opened his jaws very wide and again bit down as hard as he could, but the little pigs escaped and
[00:41:55] ran to hide in the third little pig's house made of bricks. The wolf chased them down the lane, almost caught them, but they made it to the house and slammed the door and locked it behind them.
[00:42:07] The three little pigs were frightened because they knew that the wolf wanted them for dinner.
[00:42:11] He hadn't eaten all day, and he'd worked up quite an appetite chasing pigs, and now he could smell all three of them inside. He knew they would make a lovely feast. So the wolf knocked on the door
[00:42:25] and said, little pigs, little pigs, let me in. The pig said, no, no, no, not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin, I won't let you in. The wolf said, I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your
[00:42:40] house down. And so he huffed and he puffed and he puffed and he huffed and he huffed and huffed and puffed and puffed and couldn't blow the house down. At last, he was so out of breath,
[00:42:53] he couldn't even draw in air to huff and puff anymore. And he had to sit down on the ground and rest. While he's sitting there, he got so angry, he jumped up and just began to jump up
[00:43:06] and down in anger. And then he thought, and he said out loud, I'm going to go up on your roof and come down through the chimney and eat little pigs for my supper. But while he was climbing up
[00:43:18] on the roof, the little pigs made a blazing fire in the fireplace and put on a big pot full of water to boil. When the wolf was coming down the chimney, plop, he fell into that hot pot of water
[00:43:31] and it scalded him. The little pigs put the cover on the pot and boiled the wolf up and the three little pigs ate him for dinner. Lovely. And I bet when I started this story, you had kind of
[00:43:46] forgotten about that last little piece, right? One of those traumatic things we have blocked out of our memories. All the various versions of this story that have circulated starting back in the 1800s, the lesson is the same in all the versions. It warns against being lazy,
[00:44:07] taking shortcuts, doing what seems like the easy way. And there is plenty of biblical precedent for that advice. Last week, we read out of the book of Proverbs, chapter 6, go to the ant, you sluggard, consider its ways and be wise. It has no commander, no overseer,
[00:44:26] or ruler, and yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers in food at the harvest.
[00:44:33] And you turn a few pages and come to Proverbs chapter 30. Again, we heard this last week.
[00:44:39] Four things on earth are small, yet are extremely wise. Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer. There is, in the Bible, value placed on planning ahead, working hard. And the whole thing of delayed gratification. Laziness, on the other hand,
[00:45:01] is directly warned against, also in the book of Proverbs. Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth. The lazy do not roast any game, but the diligent feed on the riches of the hunt. Now, I love biblical wisdom when it talks about hunting. For some
[00:45:19] reason that just connects with me. As the door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed. The sluggard buries his hand in the dish. He's too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.
[00:45:34] A sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven people who answer directly. And again, there's that word sluggard where we get lazy slug, right? Laziness is not a virtue. It is a vice.
[00:45:51] This is biblical wisdom. This is God's wisdom, as well as fairly common sense. Hard work, diligence, thrift, it's lifted up as a value. Two of those little pigs took shortcuts, did things the easy way, just throw together a house made of straw or sticks, whatever's quick
[00:46:12] and easy. One of them took the hard way, building a house of bricks, using much more time and effort, much more expense having to work at it longer and ended up in much better shape and able to
[00:46:28] save the other two hard work diligence pays off but i think there are a couple of other lessons for us to draw from the three little pigs one item worth paying attention to is that the
[00:46:44] first two pigs seemed oblivious about the dangers of this world this is something we saw with little Red Riding Hood too. Had they never considered the very real presence and activity of wolves in their neighborhood? Any other carnivores that might be out there who would find pork a good
[00:47:03] thing? If you think life is going to be a tiptoe through the tulips, all unicorns and rainbows, there is no need to build with bricks. It's not necessary. But those two little pigs found themselves in grave danger, danger which caught them completely off guard. They were unprepared.
[00:47:23] It was only by good fortune, by the grace of God, by the work of the third little pig that they were able to be saved.
[00:47:35] A few weeks ago, we saw how the naivete of Little Red Riding Hood led her into great danger with yet another big bad wolf.
[00:47:45] The third little pig understood the world can be a dangerous place.
[00:47:48] There are wolves out there.
[00:47:50] He saw the real presence and power of, we would say, sin and evil in the world.
[00:47:57] And so he prepared to face those dangers.
[00:48:01] We would be wise to do the same, to be spiritually prepared for the reality of sin and evil in the world and the fact that there is an enemy out there who wants to trip us up.
[00:48:15] So we're not caught off guard.
[00:48:17] So we're not in a vulnerable situation.
[00:48:19] It fits very well with the season of Lent, the whole theme of Lent.
[00:48:29] The Apostle Paul warned the church that we live on basically a battlefield.
[00:48:34] It's not primarily a culture war.
[00:48:36] It's not primarily a political war.
[00:48:39] He says it is spiritual warfare.
[00:48:43] Writing to the church in Ephesus in chapter 6, he said, Be strong in the Lord and His mighty power.
[00:48:49] Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
[00:48:56] For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
[00:49:09] Therefore, put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground and after you have done everything to stand are you putting on
[00:49:24] the full armor of God are you making deliberate efforts to open yourself to the work of the Holy Spirit that you might grow spiritually stronger and more mature serious question what are you doing are you studying scripture on a regular basis
[00:49:50] on your own in a group Are you spending time in prayer, talking with God, and listening for the voice of God coming back to you?
[00:50:02] Are you engaged in rich Christian community that builds you up?
[00:50:10] In those instances, when you know what God would want you to do, do you step out and do it?
[00:50:22] Unlike the story of the three little pigs, where two little pigs found rescue because the third pig did the right thing, you cannot find escape from the spiritual dangers of this life because of someone else's faith
[00:50:35] there is no such thing as hand-me-down faith you may have had generations of pastors in your family and your parents were strong believers and they had you baptized and they raised you in the church
[00:50:48] but none of that gives you the house of brick that you need there is no hand-me-down faith in the realm of the Spirit. It's about your relationship with Jesus Christ. What house you are building. Forget the straw and bricks, go sticks, go for the bricks, always. This story
[00:51:20] also urges us to do the right thing, even if it's the hard thing, which frequently it is.
[00:51:27] Building a house of straw, sticks, simple, easy, quick, not very secure. Building the house of bricks, much more difficult, much more expensive, requires more effort, more time, more skill, more everything. But it's secure. Do the right thing, even if it's the hard thing. Jesus told
[00:51:53] His followers that following Him was the right thing, but sometimes it would be hard, very hard.
[00:52:03] He said, the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
[00:52:15] Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world and yet lose or
[00:52:36] forfeit their very self. Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and with his angels. Jesus foretold
[00:52:55] that his route would be a painful one, including even rejection, suffering, and death. So following him is not going to be easy. Not really following him. Jesus wasn't calling people to get a ticket to paradise. He wasn't calling them to occupy a padded pew in an air-conditioned and heated
[00:53:20] sanctuary. He didn't invite them to watch his work and applaud him. He said, follow me. No houses of sticks and straws, follow me, go for the bricks. He called them to do the things that he did,
[00:53:40] to teach the truth that he taught and embodied, to stick to that truth even if someone might denounce it, to let their character be shaped more like his, to have compassion on those who were in need, to turn the other cheek, to pray for the enemy, to give sacrificially, to love those
[00:54:01] who were unlovable, to invite sinners into a community where they could find a better life, to sacrifice time and effort and whatever is required to be a living manifestation of the kingdom of God, to be a living answer to the prayer that he taught us to pray,
[00:54:22] thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in my life as it is in heaven. Jesus talked about how to build a house that is solid and secure,
[00:54:44] but he never said it would be easy. He never offered up a house of straw or a house of sticks.
[00:54:53] Actually, not even bricks. He used different kind of language about the house. In Mark chapter 7, he said, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice, puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on a rock. The rain came down, the stream rose,
[00:55:15] the winds blew and beat against the house, yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice
[00:55:28] is like a foolish person who built their house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, the winds blew and beat against the house, and it fell with a great crash.
[00:55:42] You can have a house built on sand. You can have it right there on the beachfront with a beautiful view and all the comforts, just a neat place to be. But when a good storm comes in
[00:55:55] and it's high tide, you know what happens. All that washes away the sand that's around the foundation of that house, and it comes crashing down. Or you can have a house built on a rock,
[00:56:10] on the rock, Jesus. But like he said, it's not about being a fan of Jesus. It's not about just hearing his words. It's not about showing up in worship. It's about putting his words into
[00:56:27] practice. It's about denying yourself and taking up your cross daily and following him, doing the things that he did.
[00:56:41] That's where you find a firm foundation, really following him.
[00:56:47] And you want that firm foundation because there really is a big bad wolf out there.
[00:56:55] Do the right thing, even if it's the hard thing.
[00:57:02] Patrick did the right thing, even though it was very hard.
[00:57:07] He was growing up in England as a young child and at some point was kidnapped by Irish raiders.
[00:57:14] when he was just a young boy, and then he was made a slave in Ireland.
[00:57:20] One night when he was about 16 years old, he had a dream of an English ship docked off the coast.
[00:57:31] And prompted by that dream, he escaped his master, made his way to the shore, and there was the ship, the ship he had seen in this dream.
[00:57:40] He escaped back to England and immediately entered into training to become a priest.
[00:57:46] When his training was over, St. Patrick, as he would later be known, gave his life to evangelizing the people of Ireland, the very people who had enslaved him as a young boy.
[00:58:03] One of the stories that grew out of his ministry, nobody knows if it's for real, there's lots of stories that develop, but one story was of a time when he was baptizing new converts in a river, and he would wade out in
[00:58:15] the water about, oh, yea, deep, and he'd have with him a staff called a crozier, and as he would baptize someone in the water, he would kind of lean on the crozier to keep his balance in the
[00:58:29] water because it'd kind of throw you off a little bit. As he's lowering a mountain chief down under the water three times because they would dunk Father, Son, Holy Spirit. He pressed the staff down to balance himself, keep himself steady. And afterwards, people on the shore noticed that
[00:58:54] their chief was limping as he came back up out of the water. And someone went and pointed that out to Patrick and suggested that perhaps he had pressed that wooden staff into the chief's foot.
[00:59:10] So Patrick went to the chief at once, and he apologized and said, why didn't you say something when I did that to your foot? And the surprised chief said, well, I remember you telling us about
[00:59:21] the nails and the cross, and I thought my pain was part of the baptism. And so he said nothing.
[00:59:34] St. Patrick did the hard thing, going back to offer Christ to the very people who had enslaved him.
[00:59:41] The chief, having seen his example, heard his teaching, thought that that pain was part of the deal.
[00:59:51] And so he endured it without comment.
[00:59:56] How many of us are ready and willing to do the hard thing, even if it's painful?
[01:00:11] There was a missionary preaching in a remote, poverty-ridden area of West Africa.
[01:00:17] And in talking to the crowd, he was appealing for financial support for the Christian work in the area.
[01:00:22] They were, in particular, wanting to build a building which could become a medical clinic and a place of worship and ask them to give whatever they might be able to give over time in support of that project.
[01:00:38] Two hours after the worship service, a young woman came to the missionary and presented him with $40 to be used in the building project.
[01:00:47] Now, I don't know if you're aware, but $40 in many parts of Africa is just unheard of kind of money.
[01:00:56] The missionary was stunned by this amount, and he asked, where on earth did you get so much money?
[01:01:03] and she said, I sold myself into the service of a wealthy farmer so I could give something for Jesus. She did the hard thing. Do you want a house of brick? What hard thing are you willing
[01:01:32] to do? Because you know it's the right thing. Because you know it's what Jesus wants you to do.
[01:01:39] what hard thing are you willing to do let's pray lord jesus uh again we are stunned by who you are and what you have done when pure holiness came into a sinful world to reach sinful people rebellious people to invite us back into the family of god
[01:02:20] you did the hard thing the hard thing that was necessary and we thank you for that so we pray that you would work in our hearts that we wouldn't just be happy recipients of your gift
[01:02:40] but that we would extend such a gift as well give us ears to hear your call and hearts that will leap at the opportunity to serve you even when it's hard we thank you Lord
[01:02:54] And we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

[01:02:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[01:02:59] Good teaching?
[01:03:01] Yeah, kind of tough, though.
[01:03:03] The problem with the hard thing is that it's hard.
[01:03:06] Right?
[01:03:07] If David said, you know, there at the end when David said, are you prepared to do the hard thing?
[01:03:11] We all just go, surely he's not talking to me.
[01:03:15] He's probably talking to the guy next to me.
[01:03:18] But if David said, hey, he wants to do the easy thing, we'd all be going, oh, oh, oh, right here, right here.
[01:03:24] I've got that.
[01:03:25] The thing about it is the hard thing is hard.
[01:03:27] But you know what?
[01:03:29] God's able to get us through the hard stuff.
[01:03:31] Amen?
[01:03:32] So we can say, yeah, we'll do the hard thing.
[01:03:34] Come what may, we'll do it.
[01:03:36] Why don't y'all stand?
[01:03:37] Let's sing about God.
[01:03:38] Be God.
[01:04:28] Better than all the great.
[01:04:43] Raised to life.
[01:04:47] Disabled.
[01:04:49] His name.
[01:04:52] But come.
[01:04:58] Disabled.
[01:06:19] He will never leave.
[01:08:00] Do you believe that, church?
[01:08:02] Seriously.
[01:08:03] Do you believe that God is able?
[01:08:05] I mean, really.
[01:08:06] do you believe that God is able to overcome like crucifixion? I mean, do you believe that God is able to overcome suffering? Yeah. So God really ought to be able to handle you walking down the
[01:08:21] hall at your office on Monday and telling your friend about Jesus, right? Or God ought to be able to handle you making a special dinner for the neighbor two houses down that, you know, just had surgery. Those are the things we consider hard, right? You know, we ain't got to put our
[01:08:43] faith out there a little bit, but God is able. He totally has our stuff, right? So are y'all willing to do the hard stuff? Yeah, it's the right stuff, and sometimes it's hard. God doesn't always
[01:08:58] call us to it being hard, but God always calls us to being right. Amen? Amen. Cool. Because that's who we are as christ followers right right so one of the ways that we remember what we believe
[01:09:13] is by saying the apostles creed but we've already said said that so we're gonna we're gonna sing about it now we are created conceiving christ the son jesus our savior believe in god our father
[01:10:01] I believe in Christ the Son, I believe in the Holy Spirit, our God is three in one.
[01:10:12] I believe in the resurrection, He will rise again, for I believe in the name of Jesus.
[01:10:25] Believe Church, we serve the God who's the God over the hearts.
[01:13:29] Somebody make a joyful noise, because that's good news right there.

[01:13:35] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[01:13:35] Christ the Son, I believe in the Holy Spirit.

[01:14:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[01:14:39] Our God is three in one.

[01:15:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:15:41] Then follow Him.
[01:15:42] In Jesus' name, amen.