Theological Status: Theological Weakness
Biblical Parallel(Archetype): Sardis
❓ What do these grades mean?
🔍 Biblical Discernment: The 7 Church Parallels
The Cold Orthodox Parallel
Ephesus
Teaching that upholds doctrinal precision yet parallels the loss of the "first love"—the vital, motivating power of the Gospel (Rev 2:4).
🧐 Overview
Sermon Summary: In a candid and personal message, the pastor shares his own recent struggle with spiritual imbalance, using it as a powerful illustration of why the daily disciplines of Bible reading and prayer are as essential to the Christian as breathing.
Big Idea: The balance between prayer and reading the Bible is crucial for a healthy spiritual life. [00:33:10 ▶️ 📄]
Pastoral Analysis: The sermon correctly identifies the necessity of spiritual disciplines (Bible reading, prayer) for sanctification. However, it uses a personal anecdote as its primary structure rather than the biblical text, resulting in a moralistic message that focuses on human effort ('get back in rhythm') to achieve spiritual balance. The sermon lacks a strong Christological anchor, presenting the means of grace as a therapeutic tool instead of a response to the Gospel. The extremely low ratio of Scripture reading to personal commentary is a significant concern.
Biblical Parallel(Archetype): Sardis — The sermon has a reputation for being alive, emphasizing spiritual disciplines, but is functionally dead, presenting them as a 'try harder' solution to spiritual imbalance rather than a Spirit-empowered response to Christ's finished work.
🧭 Biblical Alignment Dashboard
Overall Verdict: Theologically Weak
| Category | Status | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Soteriology | ⚠️ WEAK | The explanation of justification at [00:45:52 ▶️ 📄] is vague and centered on the human experience of being 'changed' by hearing the Word, rather than on the objective, forensic declaration of righteousness based on Christ's imputed righteousness. |
| Bibliology | ⚠️ WEAK | While affirming the power and divine origin of Scripture, the sermon functionally uses the text as a pretext for a personal story. This demonstrates a practical low view of the Word's sufficiency to structure and drive the message, subordinating it to human experience. |
| Hermeneutic | ⚠️ WEAK | The approach is pretextual and moralistic. The text of Hebrews 4 is used as a launchpad for a talk on spiritual discipline, with minimal exegesis, making the application a 'try harder' imperative detached from the Gospel indicative. |
| Theology Proper | ✅ PASS | The sermon does not contain any erroneous statements regarding the nature or attributes of God. |
| Sacramentology | ⚪ N/A | Neither Communion nor Baptism were observed in the provided transcript. |
📖 How they Handle Scripture & Jesus
Primary Text: Hebrews 4:11-13 (Pretextual)
Scripture Saturation: Verses Read: 3 | Referenced: 2 | Alluded: 2
Passages Read Aloud:
-
Hebrews 4:11-13
[00:32:27 ▶️ 📄]
"Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and it's powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword piercing even to the division of the soul and the spirit and of the joints and marrows and it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of our heart and there is no creature hidden from his sight but all things are naked"
-
Hebrews 4:12
[00:48:30 ▶️ 📄]
"For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing to the division of the soul and the spirit, to the joints and the marrow."
Key References: Romans 3:10-12, Hebrews 4:12
Christological Connection: Moralistic: The sermon connects the biblical text to the believer's personal discipline and spiritual state, with almost no connection made to the person or work of Christ as the motivation or power for that discipline.
🧱 Sermon Outline
- Introduction: Scripture Reading and Thesis [00:31:54 ▶️ 📄] : The sermon begins with a reading of Hebrews 4:11-13 and establishes the main proposition: prayer and Bible reading are the 'respiratory system' of a believer.
- Point 1: The Battle of Flesh and Spirit [00:39:21 ▶️ 📄] : The pastor explains the ongoing spiritual battle within a believer, referencing Adam's pre-fall state and Paul's struggle, to set the stage for the need for spiritual discipline.
- Point 2: The Main Illustration - A Personal Confession [00:37:36 ▶️ 📄] : The bulk of the sermon is a detailed personal story about a recent cruise where neglecting Bible reading and prayer led to feeling spiritually 'unbalanced' and carnal.
- Point 3: The Power of the Word [00:48:26 ▶️ 📄] : Returning to the text, the pastor emphasizes that the Word of God is 'living' and 'powerful,' and that reading it is how God speaks to His people.
- Conclusion and Application [00:53:49 ▶️ 📄] : The sermon concludes with a call to stay in the habit of reading and prayer to allow the Word to purify the heart and maintain spiritual balance.
🗝️ Key Topics & Themes
- Importance of Prayer and Bible Reading [00:33:10 ▶️ 📄] : Discussion on the necessity of balancing prayer and Bible reading for spiritual health.
- Importance of regular Bible reading and prayer [00:38:42 ▶️ 📄] : The pastor discusses how neglecting Bible reading and prayer leads to spiritual imbalance and emphasizes the need for regular engagement with the Bible.
- Battle between the flesh and the spirit [00:39:13 ▶️ 📄] : The pastor explains the struggle between the flesh and the spirit, highlighting the importance of the spirit's control over the flesh.
- Sanctification and the Christian life [00:39:57 ▶️ 📄] : The pastor describes the concept of total sanctification and contrasts it with the state of believers post-fall, emphasizing the ongoing battle against sin.
- Importance of the Bible [00:54:15 ▶️ 📄] : The Bible helps us recognize our sins and guides us towards righteousness.
✅ Commendations
Pastoral Tone | Vulnerability and Relatability
The pastor's willingness to share his own spiritual struggles [00:37:36 ▶️ 📄] was commendable. This transparency can help the congregation feel that their leaders understand their own battles with sin and spiritual lethargy.
Doctrine of Scripture | Affirmation of the Word's Power
The sermon correctly and repeatedly affirmed the Bible's divine nature, describing it as 'living and powerful' [00:48:30 ▶️ 📄] and the means by which God speaks to His people [00:50:11 ▶️ 📄]. This is a vital truth for the church to hear.
Liturgy | Confessional Faithfulness
The inclusion of the Apostles' Creed [00:16:37 ▶️ 📄] and the Lord's Prayer [00:16:15 ▶️ 📄] in the liturgy publicly aligns the church with the historic, orthodox Christian faith.
⚠️ Theological Concerns
🟠 Moralistic Drift
Root Cause: Moralistic Drift (Sardis). This approach detaches the commands of Scripture (the need for discipline) from the power of the Gospel (the Person of Christ who empowers it). It preaches the Law without the Grace to obey it.
"It only took me one week to become the most unbalanced I've been in probably 10 years just by not doing the things that I typically would do." [00:47:38 ▶️ 📄]
Correction: The goal of preaching is not to share our experiences with the Bible as a backdrop, but to preach the text with our experiences as a minor illustration. The central focus must remain on the Word itself (2 Timothy 4:2), which testifies of Christ (John 5:39), not ourselves.
📜 Full Sermon Transcript (Audit)
Use the 📄 icons next to quotes above to automatically jump to their location in this raw transcript.
[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:00:00] Watch the service. And I hadn't even had a chance, but I'll get to it. I do want to see it. But we welcome you to Broad Street Church this morning. For those that watch on Facebook, if you wouldn't mind, just turn around and wave at them. They are in their pajamas drinking their coffee. And again, it's a good avenue for us to have with the social media and all that good stuff. And again, we want to welcome again those that are listening to us at one o'clock on the radio. They'll be brought to me this morning. We do have an administrative council meeting.
[00:00:33] next week at 3 30 but Tommy wants to have a trustee meeting at 2 o'clock so if you're a part of the trustee committee especially those ones that have come on with the class of 2028 please be here at 2 o'clock I know
[00:00:48] there's a lot going on I've got some other projects to take care of so trustee meeting at 2 administrative council meeting at 3 30 also this Thursday several of us will be meeting at the high school on February 19th
[00:01:02] Thursday morning. I know this is early, but 6.15 in the morning, we'll meet in the gym. They have what's called Fellowship of Christian Athletes. We've been very fortunate, and the mission team has actually helped provide breakfast for them. I think this will be the third time. And so come
[00:01:18] out and be part of that, and remember what it was like to be getting up that early and going to high school and watching those young people. They put on a whole worship service before they go to the
[00:01:30] first class and it's amazing the young man preaches they got people that sing and it's just a really good time so that'll be Thursday at 630 I'm also gonna let Angela talk about college connections they sent the boxes to the
[00:01:44] two young ladies and also I'll let her give you a little quick update on that
[00:01:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:01:47] yeah thank you to all who helped donate to that the goods the money whichever one you donated Grace and Hannah were blown away this week I've got word back from both of them. Couldn't put it in the bulletin
[00:02:02] this week because it was already printed but their notes I'll get into the bulletin but it was very overwhelming the generosity that we gave to them and they were felt very loved by their church. So thank you so much.
[00:02:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:02:15] Also remember the soup S-O-U-P Super Bowl food drive we did. We extended it this week and next week because of the snow and the ice and all that good stuff. So you can still bring cans of soup. We counted
[00:02:28] wednesday night we had right at 600 and our goal is a thousand uh so you still got one more week to to go by and pick up some of that and bring that to the church and we'll count it and make sure
[00:02:39] we get you a good number also the ladies group will meet february 21st that's next saturday here at the church 11 to 1 uh they're going to have a uh time of worship and finger painting and all
[00:02:50] that good stuff miss suzy raise your hand right there yeah if you want oh it's a brush but it's painting close enough all right they're gonna paint with brushes okay all right all right if
[00:03:12] that's the only thing i get wrong today i'll be doing good so all right so come out and enjoy them and then the next in march they got one of my favorite people coming i always give her
[00:03:21] a shout out jeanette klutz in our town mount pleasant over there just a wonderful lady if you come here jeanette i i can't say enough about her she's just a wonderful speaker and just outcome is probably sitting on that one so that'll be in march so any other announcements
[00:03:39] we got all right sing for me steve gracious lord again we thank you your story continues we're your church your bride the people that would have accepted you as their savior and lord we come
[00:05:07] here today for one purpose and one purpose only that's to worship and lift up your name we could go into countless stories of blessings that we receive from you and how you work in our life
[00:05:19] and lord the ultimate privilege is to come here and sing and praise your name and offer your word to those out there in the masses so we thank you for this special time be with us as we go
[00:05:33] through our service and we ask this in christ's name amen good morning so good to see each and
[00:05:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:05:40] every one of you i'm glad there's no snow or ice out there like there has been and we have a little bit of liquid sunshine today, but no snow or ice. So we're going to stand and sing praises to God.
[00:05:51] We're going to begin with, You Are God Alone. You Are God Alone. Let's stand as we sing.
[00:05:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:05:56] You are not a God dependent on any mortal man. You are not a God in need of anything we can give By your plan, that's just the way it is You are God alone, from before time began
[00:06:33] You are on your throne, you are God alone And right now, in the good times and bad You are on your throne, you are God alone You're the only God whose power none can contend
[00:07:00] You're the only God whose grace and praise will never end You're the only God who's worthy of everything we can give you are God that's just the way you are God alone from before time began you are
[00:07:28] on your throne you are God alone and right now in the good times and bad you are on your throne you are god alone can we get the slides turned tangible unshakable unstoppable that's what you are you are god alone from before time began you are on your throne
[00:08:15] You are God alone And right now In the good times and bad You are on your throne You are God alone And now we're going to move into a verse
[00:08:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:08:37] of probably one of your favorites, How Great Thou Art.
[00:08:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:08:42] Come, consider I have paid I see the star, I hear thunder, the universe sings my soul, my Savior God to thee, great thou art, great thou art, and sings my soul, my Savior God to thee, how great thou art, great thou art.
[00:10:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:10:01] How great is our God.
[00:10:02] Amen.
[00:10:03] Thank you.
[00:10:04] You may be seated.
[00:10:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:10:12] As we come together with our prayer requests and our praises for it, I had a young lady came in this morning needing some assistance, but she also was asking for prayer for her sister who lives in Pensacola, Florida.
[00:10:25] She was on her way to actually visit with her and came by this way to pick up a brother and head that way.
[00:10:32] So her name was Bird Hunter.
[00:10:35] I thought it was unique.
[00:10:36] and so she's on her way now as we speak to go visit with her she apparently has cancer and there was another issue I can't recall but keep her in your prayers as well I did talk to Bill
[00:10:50] Ford this week he's doing well he said he's got a lot of therapy and doctor's appointments and will hopefully get a chance to go and visit with him he told me he'd have to call me and you know
[00:11:01] have a time i could get to come see him uh he's staying with a friend that's taking care of him because he can't stand by himself so keep bill in your prayers and i saw ed and johnny this week as
[00:11:11] well uh they're doing well johnny's uh still having a few little issues according to ed uh he did have something come up uh while we were gone and put him in a hospital for about 24 hours uh but they
[00:11:24] really never found out what that was may have been related to medicine or something but he got his strength back and is back at home. So continue to keep them in your prayers as well. Any others have a prayer request this morning?
[00:11:37] I want to keep Misty in prayer. She's got a special request. But keep Misty in your prayers as well. Yes, ma'am.
[00:11:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:11:45] I will ask that Anto Rodriguez and his family. Okay. I'll get one with me on Nick.
[00:11:53] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:11:53] I ain't heard that one yet. Any others? Prayer request.
[00:12:02] Praise reports. The Lord been good to you. Amen.
[00:12:08] 50 years, mom and dad got you beat they had theirs on the 13th and it was 55 so mom and dad had their anniversary, but happy birthday to y'all yes ma'am, amen amen heard TJ got good news
[00:12:29] yes Eleanor Curtis, alright, go ahead
[00:12:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:12:39] happy birthday to you, happy birthday bless you
[00:12:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:12:55] I got a praise report, we got back safely from the crews, amen Amen.
[00:13:13] We won't talk about that a little bit in the sermon.
[00:13:16] But the, you know, always good to get away.
[00:13:19] But we will rethink that Norfolk thing.
[00:13:23] So, but any others?
[00:13:27] Let's go to the Lord in prayer.
[00:13:31] Lord, what a gracious God you are.
[00:13:35] Lord, we bring up so many things in our life that, of the overall scheme of this world and things in this world, Lord, seem so small.
[00:13:44] Lord there's so many even today that are celebrating birthdays and anniversaries and all around us yet we only know a fraction of their life you allow us to come here and experience one another to be part of your holy church
[00:14:01] to build relationships with one another and to trust one another help one another I'm reminded of that young lady that came by this morning Lord I don't know anything about her other than she needed some help you know
[00:14:18] our life and our whole story lord i ask that you be with each and every person we thank you for the blessings in our life lord even for the sicknesses and things that have affected many people in our
[00:14:32] congregation over the last year you're faithful you heal you touch you provide us with these great doctors and nurses that can do these amazing things and lord sometimes we just take them for granted it's just going to a doctor but it's amazing what you've allowed these people to
[00:14:53] inherit in their knowledge and their experience and so we thank you for the healings that's taking place and the lives that have been touched i ask again lord that you continue just to be with
[00:15:04] the church as we do through our day-to-day activities the missions and the things that we talked about earlier lord our active work that each person in this church gets involved in Lord I impress upon your heart
[00:15:18] for people not to just have salvation but live out that salvation each and every day to share it with others around this community and around the world Lord I thank you again for all the work that was put in
[00:15:31] for the extra stuff during the storms and the services and all but I was reminded then that first Sunday Lord just being able to sit there and talk over social media or pray each one of us can have that time
[00:15:46] of worship in our own very homes. But it's what joy and a privilege to come here with our brothers and sisters in Christ this morning and worship you. And so we thank you. Again, we
[00:15:58] lifted up several other prayer requests, Lord.
[00:16:01] We ask that your hand be upon each and everything. Be with our brothers and sisters in our church that are still healing and recovering from injuries.
[00:16:10] Touch and heal their body.
[00:16:12] We ask this in your name.
[00:16:13] We come to you now as your son taught us to pray.
[00:16:15] 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 those who
[00:16:31] trespass against you and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine
[00:16:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:16:37] is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen apostles creed before we go in through our next hymn i believe in god the father almighty maker of heaven and earth and in jesus christ
[00:17:07] his only son our lord who was conceived by the holy spirit born of the virgin mary I'd like to invite you to join in singing with us one of my favorite hymns.
[00:17:46] I know it's also one of Jane's favorite hymns.
[00:17:48] A mighty fortress is our God.
[00:17:50] It's hymn number 110 in your hymnal.
[00:17:52] The words should also be on the screens.
[00:17:54] Hymn number 110, A Mighty Fortress is Our God.
[00:17:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:17:57] A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing.
[00:18:25] The flood of mortal ills prevailing, For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us foe.
[00:18:48] His strength and power are great, And armed with cruel hate, is not his name.
[00:19:09] We confide our striving for the right man on our side, the man of God's own choosing.
[00:19:28] Thus has who that may be Christ Jesus, it is he.
[00:19:37] On Sabbath his name From age to age the same And he must win the battle This world with devil's field Chose precious to undo He will not fear for God hath willed To triumph in some darkness dream
[00:20:22] We tremble not for him An impure issue Little word shall fail Thanks to him above God gives our eyes With us For total life Oh, so body they make God's truth provide And see His kingdom is for us
[00:21:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:21:37] amen thank you you may be seated you know me very well you understand my deepest part more than i know myself so when i face the darkness when i need to find my way i'll trust in you shepherd
[00:22:56] of this heart of mine your patience has no end you've loved me back into your arms time and time again so if i start to wander like a lamb that's gone astray i'll trust in you
[00:23:33] shepherd of my heart you're the beat you're the sunlight of my days i can rest within your loving so let the cold winds blow and let the storms rage all around i'll trust in you
[00:24:15] shepherd of my life and me you're what I'm living for for all my deepest gratitude you love me even more so as i walk through valleys listening for the master's call i'll trust in you shepherd of
[00:25:02] you're the sunlight days i can as i walk through valleys listening for my master's call trust in Almighty God, you give to each of your children great blessings,
[00:27:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:27:04] watching over and taking care of each one of us.
[00:27:08] There's not a day that goes by, Lord, that your hand isn't upon us, that you're not watching and caring for each one of us.
[00:27:15] We thank you.
[00:27:15] We ask, Lord, that you take now our tithes and our offerings for the work of your kingdom.
[00:27:20] Bless them, multiply them, that somehow, someway, Lord, someone will be able to hear the word of God preached, and in some way at some point accept you as our Lord and Savior we ask this in Christ's name
[00:27:31] Amen I think I remember how to do this I had a sermon planned out that was a continuation of the sermon I preached before all the ice and all that hit and then with going on vacation and the cruise
[00:31:54] it just kind of put me in a different direction and this sermon might not be for anybody in this room this morning or for that matter Facebook or WHIP but this one was for me sometimes we need a wake-up call
[00:32:11] and I think this was the opportunity for me to realize my carnalness and how I can get distracted sometimes not as a pastor but as a person as a Christian so my scripture reading this morning
[00:32:27] comes from Hebrews chapter 14 verses 11 through 13. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and it's powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword piercing even to the division
[00:32:53] of the soul and the spirit and of the joints and marrows and it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of our heart and there is no creature hidden from his sight but all things are naked
[00:33:10] and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account this is the word of god for us the children of god i often talk about prayer and reading the bible and i hope to say most of my
[00:33:30] sermons those are two things that we as believers must do i think i recalled a sermon not too long ago maybe within a year ago and i actually said if you're on a leadership team and you don't pray
[00:33:48] please tell me i will be happy to help you and we'll work towards a understanding of how prayer works in your life and you can work towards getting in more of a habit to pray or simply
[00:34:04] reading scriptures that's the other half to it i think that reading the bible and praying is the respiratory system of a believer i don't think you should have one and not the other but i also i've had to work on prayer for me prayer is one of those things that sometimes
[00:34:39] you can do really really good really really right on time and then other times you gotta just kind of make yourself do it but there's a balance that comes with it it is the respiratory
[00:34:52] spirituals of our souls our bodies for many years when i was years ago i should say when i was here at broad street the first time there was about a three-year period where i got bronchitis every
[00:35:05] time I turned around pneumonia a couple times I said to have pneumonia and not be able to breathe was one of the most fearful things I've ever had it reminded me of my mother who's been an asthmatic all her life and even today why she's
[00:35:25] not here because the issues with lungs fault sometimes to just breathe and that fear that comes over your eyes and your body the tents and tighten up you have i would get bronchitis so bad that i would literally get up at night sit coughing so hard
[00:35:46] i would vomit you just couldn't take a breath and then the anxiety of it picks it kicks in you can't breathe and you start to just it's fearful when you can't breathe everything in your body breaks down i would never say i became totally depressed but it would affect my next day
[00:36:09] work and things that went on just the side effects of it had it so much that they actually told me they could no longer give me prednisone because you're only supposed to take so much in a certain period of time and I said well
[00:36:25] you got to do something I can't breathe but in their side effects to the medicine many side effects my wife actually had one she said was it made me mean you would take it and it would get you just so tense and so filled up and moody and she said
[00:36:48] when they give it to you i know you're going to get mean i don't know what that means you're welcome to ask her but i learned in those years that having pneumonia and bronchitis it weakens everything about you your body doesn't function right it's not balanced you don't have
[00:37:07] strength and your mind even gets foggy if you can't breathe your mind just does little tricks on you and i think the same can be said about our spiritual life the balance of prayer and reading
[00:37:22] the bible has to be equal it may be why so many christians in the world today seem to be for lack of a better term angry why the church seems to be struggling in the last 30 years
[00:37:36] maybe just the weakness in our spiritual walk but today i want to focus on me and maybe offer you something in the process we came off of that cruise and to say it was a different
[00:37:53] cruise will be an understatement we get to norfolk it's 15 degrees it warms up a little bit we come back it's 17 degrees your body's tense the whole time the cruise was cold you just
[00:38:12] everything about it you're confined to a spot you can't go out on the deck you're inside it just seemed like everything was for lack of a better way to put it just enclosing in on us and I found
[00:38:31] myself completely out of my rhythm for me a cruise is a time for me to read the stuff I want to read and to read up on some things I want to read and to get some sermon notes for some other things
[00:38:42] and really just sit there.
[00:38:44] Angela will tell you, I get off to my corner and I read and I pray.
[00:38:50] I didn't do it one time, not one single time.
[00:38:58] I read some things on my phone, little things, passages, but I didn't do any of that.
[00:39:06] And as I got towards the end of that cruise, I felt this battle going on.
[00:39:10] And I can honestly tell you it was a physical and spiritual battle.
[00:39:13] I was leaning more towards the physical, Gary, than I was the spiritual part of my life.
[00:39:20] It was a battle.
[00:39:21] i could feel it angel and i talked about it i wasn't who i normally was on a cruise not at all i thought about adam and eve when they were in the garden and god created them
[00:39:34] and we don't think about this but adam originally was created without any struggle at all god breathes into him life his spirit comes in him the flesh has no control his only desire and and 10 is to worship God, to follow in God's footsteps. All his body did, the flesh did, was
[00:39:57] occupy the spirit and the breath of God. That was it. For me, that's the earliest picture of total sanctification, what we aspire to become as Christians. But when Adam and Eve sinned and fell into temptation, everything changes. Now that battle begins to wage war against the spirit.
[00:40:20] the spirit no longer has control the body doesn't want anything to do with God it only wants to displease God the flesh wants to do what it wants it wants to have what it wants
[00:40:37] it wants to consume what it wants this is how the apostle Paul says it for I know that nothing good dwells in me talking about in its flesh for I have the desire to do what is right
[00:40:52] but i don't have the ability to carry it out that might sound silly but for eight days the further i got away from god and reading and studying the bible the more i had trouble carrying out
[00:41:09] what i was supposed to be as a christian you say you're making too much of it gary not for me that's the time i get closer and get back to god i'm reminded that after the fall
[00:41:23] adam everything becomes cursed there's always going to be that battle between the flesh and the spirit the flesh is driven by self-sufficiency self-desires even for us as believers sin can enter take over your body your ways for certain small and big periods of time
[00:41:49] and important thing is you got to realize it i think reading and praying gets you back to the spirit and when the spirit of god is in control the battle is still there but we don't think about
[00:42:05] it too much as long as the spirit is leading you we kind of what we need to be but sometimes we have to come to a realization that the flesh can overtake us the carnal state is in us always
[00:42:23] romans 3 10 through 12 says there's none righteous no not one no one understands and no one seeks god all have turned aside together they have become worthless no one does good not even one
[00:42:41] that's talking about the carnal the flesh that's the state of a sinner the state of someone who's never got the spirit again in them you see after the curse everything about our lives has become poisoned everything about our life becomes a battle it says in the scriptures
[00:43:08] but now for the believer but now the righteousness righteousness of god has been manifested apart from the law although the law and the prophets bear witness to it the righteousness of god through faith in Jesus Christ is for all who believe. There is no distinction. When you sit
[00:43:28] down and you consume the Bible and you hear the Word of God spoke, it pushes you toward the spiritual righteousness, the holiness. When you sit down and you read the Bible and that Word is
[00:43:42] preached, it's talking about a risen Savior. The Word is the key there in that verse, and John points out the power of it it says it is the spirit who gives life the flesh profits nothing the words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life
[00:44:02] Lee's been doing a Bible study on Wednesday nights for several several months just sitting down and reading the Bible the Bible tells us when we read it it doesn't even come back void it always has a purpose when a person sits down
[00:44:21] down and hears the word of God preached, hears the word of God, they receive it, the Holy Spirit begins to do a miraculous thing in their body inside of them. The Holy Spirit can enter back
[00:44:34] into that flesh. It can penetrate the heart. A new resurrection takes place in that person.
[00:44:41] The dead spirit of man is resurrected and man becomes a new creation in God again. It doesn't do away with the battle, but they become a new person. In John chapter 3, Nicodemus comes to
[00:44:58] Jesus and he actually gives you a story and a picture of exactly that. He comes to Jesus and he says, I hear you preaching and you are a prophet, you're blessed, but how is it that I can
[00:45:13] become born again this intellectual person of society wants to hear this from Jesus and this is what Jesus says most assuredly I say to you unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God that
[00:45:32] which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit do not marvel that I said to you you must be born again for us as Methodists that's justification when you hear the word of god and you hear it preached or you hear it read
[00:45:52] and it changes who you are you see the spirit reveals our iniquity it really it reveals our fallenness everything in the world is pointed out the sin but when the word of god is heard
[00:46:10] and it's digested into your soul you're once again a new creation you're once again one with God our flesh always battles against us and it rebels against God and if the child of God does not feed
[00:46:26] the spirit the spirit becomes weak the flesh becomes stronger that's exactly what was happening in me in eight days eight days the flesh will affect your emotions your attitude and it will get you unbalanced you can literally feel it each day of that cruise i felt like i was a little bit
[00:46:51] further off unbalanced but once a glorious obedient child reaches back out to god the spirit becomes alive again and begins to be fed again when you sit down and start to pray and read and if the spirit of god is fed the spirit of god will begin to burn in your heart again
[00:47:13] and your emotions and your attitude will once again get balanced when we're aligned with the spirit and obeying the word of god the bible says it will not fulfill the lust of the flesh i said this two or three times already it only took me one week to become the most unbalanced
[00:47:38] i've been in probably 10 years just by not doing the things that i typically would do So the child of God feeds on the Word.
[00:47:53] You have to meditate.
[00:47:55] You have to find times of solace and time to spend with God.
[00:48:00] Surrender to Him.
[00:48:02] Worship Him.
[00:48:03] I think it even has a little bit to do with what led up to the cruise.
[00:48:07] Just not being able to come to church on a Sunday morning and worship with y'all.
[00:48:11] When I find myself not surrendering to God and reading the Word, I find myself uneasy, restless, not at peace.
[00:48:23] I find myself agitated and out of rhythm.
[00:48:26] That's why I wanted you to hear that scripture in Hebrews 4.12.
[00:48:30] For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing to the division of the soul and the spirit, to the joints and the marrow.
[00:48:43] And it's a discerner of the thoughts and intents of your heart.
[00:48:47] and there is no creature creature hidden from its sight back when i grew up the pastors read out of the king james verse and then the king james version says that the word of god is quick
[00:49:01] q-u-i-c-k meaning it comes alive it's real it breathes when someone says go do something now they want you to do it quickly we even use that term for women that are pregnant when the baby first begins to move in their body around four months, they call it a quickening. Something
[00:49:28] inside of you is alive. That's what the Word of God does for us. It awakens you. The Bible says the Word of God is quick, powerful. I get frustrated sometimes when people act as though
[00:49:45] it's a novel or just a book or something that you read to fit into culture. That's not the Bible.
[00:49:54] not the bible i read i had to remind myself that in not reading the scriptures like i should on vacation i was neglecting my time and hearing god speak and hearing god talk to me i came back and
[00:50:11] we did the bulletin and the little passage i put in there made me laugh says you want to hear god speak, read your Bible. Want to hear God speak audibly, read your Bible out loud. That's true.
[00:50:34] We must never forget that when we read the scripture, God is talking to us. The Bible is an amazing book of over 40 authors, thousands of years. Each scripture and word validates the other it's a living word that God gave to people so that you and I can hear his voice some people
[00:51:01] never hear the audible voice of God but they can pick it up and read it every single day our society twisted and manipulates the word of God to fit their own selfish desires rather than
[00:51:16] sitting down and reading it and believing it and accepting it and allowing it to God guide their life. So no, the word of God does not change. It doesn't change with the culture and go up and
[00:51:31] down with everything that goes on with it. The word of God is still the word of God and it still means exactly what it says. As I came off of that cruise, I felt a conviction in my soul. We were
[00:51:44] riding down the street and we saw several churches and cars begin to pull in it. And just being honest and confessing, I felt like the Lord wanted me to pull into one of them and just go into a
[00:51:58] worship service and I didn't do it so you can't tell me I'm just weird because you're a preacher it was something inside that was pulling me trying to get me back to where the Lord wanted me to be
[00:52:17] I felt that conviction and I knew something was off about my life it was a joy to get back into your routine your life that what you do as a pastor and to being able to just sit in your
[00:52:33] office and read for a little bit, pray for a little bit. In my reading this week, I was reminded of these words, that one day heaven and earth will pass away, but the Bible says the word of God will
[00:52:49] endure forever. Do you miss talking to God? Do you miss hearing his voice? Do you desire to hear his voice? Paul said to the Ephesians, when he's talking about putting on a full armor of God to
[00:53:10] protect us against the enemy he says to put on the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit and david reminds us when we read it to hide it in our heart that we might not sin against god
[00:53:27] so it might just seem like a verse you read or passage and at some point in your life the lord brings that back so that we won't sin against him if you would stand for me please this morning
[00:53:49] The picture that Paul offers us in Hebrews is that the Bible cuts and it pierces through every aspect of your body.
[00:53:59] I think it's a physical image and I think it's a spiritual image.
[00:54:04] It cuts into the marrow, the bone, and it points out our intent of our hearts.
[00:54:15] The Lord doesn't promise that we're going to walk righteous every single moment.
[00:54:21] Every one of us will fall in sin.
[00:54:23] the point is to realize it and go back to God the old bible thumping preachers said that the bible is a dividing asunder meaning it pierces to that part that needs to be drawn to God it tells us
[00:54:48] what we do wrong and points out when things get blurry and when we begin to tolerate a destructive behavior it points out our intentions when we try to please ourselves rather than god the key is to stay in the habit of practicing reading and praying to god even us pastors have
[00:55:11] to be reminded of that sometimes the word of the lord is perfect and it purifies your heart it leads you to walk in righteousness and walk in the ways of god paul said to the colossians
[00:55:28] let the word of christ dwell in you richly richly meaning that it can cover everything in your life there's never anything that can't help and for us as a believer we should desire to hear it
[00:55:48] breathe it consume it and be reminded of just how great the bible is i remember there's old time bible preachers used to carry one around with them now we got them on our phones and
[00:56:08] even on our phone sometimes we neglect to pick it up and read it if you feel like you're out of balanced you're not alone get home pray a little bit read a little bit and allow the holy spirit
[00:56:24] to speak to each one of you in the name of the father son and holy spirit amen our closing hymn
[00:56:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:56:34] this morning is he leadeth me remember our altar is always open if you'd like to come and pray if You felt like you needed to be a little closer to God this week.
[00:56:44] This altar is open.
[00:56:46] The pastor is available to speak to you as well if you'd like to come.
[00:56:51] He leadeth me is hymn number 128 in your hymnal.
[00:56:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:56:54] God's hand that leadeth me, his own hand he leadeth me.
[00:57:38] His faithful follower would be, or by his hand he leadeth me.
[00:57:50] As I was standing there, it occurred to me,
[00:58:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:58:55] the feedback might be from a mic here, but we'll get that fixed next week.
[00:59:03] It's good to be in the house of the Lord this morning.
[00:59:06] Good to see smiling faces and hear good music, hear the Word of God preached.
[00:59:13] Invite someone to come back with you next week.
[00:59:17] Let the words of our mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in our sight.
[00:59:21] O Lord, You are our strength and You are our Redeemer.
[00:59:25] In the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, and all God's children, we say, Amen.
[00:00:00] Watch the service. And I hadn't even had a chance, but I'll get to it. I do want to see it. But we welcome you to Broad Street Church this morning. For those that watch on Facebook, if you wouldn't mind, just turn around and wave at them. They are in their pajamas drinking their coffee. And again, it's a good avenue for us to have with the social media and all that good stuff. And again, we want to welcome again those that are listening to us at one o'clock on the radio. They'll be brought to me this morning. We do have an administrative council meeting.
[00:00:33] next week at 3 30 but Tommy wants to have a trustee meeting at 2 o'clock so if you're a part of the trustee committee especially those ones that have come on with the class of 2028 please be here at 2 o'clock I know
[00:00:48] there's a lot going on I've got some other projects to take care of so trustee meeting at 2 administrative council meeting at 3 30 also this Thursday several of us will be meeting at the high school on February 19th
[00:01:02] Thursday morning. I know this is early, but 6.15 in the morning, we'll meet in the gym. They have what's called Fellowship of Christian Athletes. We've been very fortunate, and the mission team has actually helped provide breakfast for them. I think this will be the third time. And so come
[00:01:18] out and be part of that, and remember what it was like to be getting up that early and going to high school and watching those young people. They put on a whole worship service before they go to the
[00:01:30] first class and it's amazing the young man preaches they got people that sing and it's just a really good time so that'll be Thursday at 630 I'm also gonna let Angela talk about college connections they sent the boxes to the
[00:01:44] two young ladies and also I'll let her give you a little quick update on that
[00:01:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:01:47] yeah thank you to all who helped donate to that the goods the money whichever one you donated Grace and Hannah were blown away this week I've got word back from both of them. Couldn't put it in the bulletin
[00:02:02] this week because it was already printed but their notes I'll get into the bulletin but it was very overwhelming the generosity that we gave to them and they were felt very loved by their church. So thank you so much.
[00:02:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:02:15] Also remember the soup S-O-U-P Super Bowl food drive we did. We extended it this week and next week because of the snow and the ice and all that good stuff. So you can still bring cans of soup. We counted
[00:02:28] wednesday night we had right at 600 and our goal is a thousand uh so you still got one more week to to go by and pick up some of that and bring that to the church and we'll count it and make sure
[00:02:39] we get you a good number also the ladies group will meet february 21st that's next saturday here at the church 11 to 1 uh they're going to have a uh time of worship and finger painting and all
[00:02:50] that good stuff miss suzy raise your hand right there yeah if you want oh it's a brush but it's painting close enough all right they're gonna paint with brushes okay all right all right if
[00:03:12] that's the only thing i get wrong today i'll be doing good so all right so come out and enjoy them and then the next in march they got one of my favorite people coming i always give her
[00:03:21] a shout out jeanette klutz in our town mount pleasant over there just a wonderful lady if you come here jeanette i i can't say enough about her she's just a wonderful speaker and just outcome is probably sitting on that one so that'll be in march so any other announcements
[00:03:39] we got all right sing for me steve gracious lord again we thank you your story continues we're your church your bride the people that would have accepted you as their savior and lord we come
[00:05:07] here today for one purpose and one purpose only that's to worship and lift up your name we could go into countless stories of blessings that we receive from you and how you work in our life
[00:05:19] and lord the ultimate privilege is to come here and sing and praise your name and offer your word to those out there in the masses so we thank you for this special time be with us as we go
[00:05:33] through our service and we ask this in christ's name amen good morning so good to see each and
[00:05:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:05:40] every one of you i'm glad there's no snow or ice out there like there has been and we have a little bit of liquid sunshine today, but no snow or ice. So we're going to stand and sing praises to God.
[00:05:51] We're going to begin with, You Are God Alone. You Are God Alone. Let's stand as we sing.
[00:05:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:05:56] You are not a God dependent on any mortal man. You are not a God in need of anything we can give By your plan, that's just the way it is You are God alone, from before time began
[00:06:33] You are on your throne, you are God alone And right now, in the good times and bad You are on your throne, you are God alone You're the only God whose power none can contend
[00:07:00] You're the only God whose grace and praise will never end You're the only God who's worthy of everything we can give you are God that's just the way you are God alone from before time began you are
[00:07:28] on your throne you are God alone and right now in the good times and bad you are on your throne you are god alone can we get the slides turned tangible unshakable unstoppable that's what you are you are god alone from before time began you are on your throne
[00:08:15] You are God alone And right now In the good times and bad You are on your throne You are God alone And now we're going to move into a verse
[00:08:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:08:37] of probably one of your favorites, How Great Thou Art.
[00:08:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:08:42] Come, consider I have paid I see the star, I hear thunder, the universe sings my soul, my Savior God to thee, great thou art, great thou art, and sings my soul, my Savior God to thee, how great thou art, great thou art.
[00:10:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:10:01] How great is our God.
[00:10:02] Amen.
[00:10:03] Thank you.
[00:10:04] You may be seated.
[00:10:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:10:12] As we come together with our prayer requests and our praises for it, I had a young lady came in this morning needing some assistance, but she also was asking for prayer for her sister who lives in Pensacola, Florida.
[00:10:25] She was on her way to actually visit with her and came by this way to pick up a brother and head that way.
[00:10:32] So her name was Bird Hunter.
[00:10:35] I thought it was unique.
[00:10:36] and so she's on her way now as we speak to go visit with her she apparently has cancer and there was another issue I can't recall but keep her in your prayers as well I did talk to Bill
[00:10:50] Ford this week he's doing well he said he's got a lot of therapy and doctor's appointments and will hopefully get a chance to go and visit with him he told me he'd have to call me and you know
[00:11:01] have a time i could get to come see him uh he's staying with a friend that's taking care of him because he can't stand by himself so keep bill in your prayers and i saw ed and johnny this week as
[00:11:11] well uh they're doing well johnny's uh still having a few little issues according to ed uh he did have something come up uh while we were gone and put him in a hospital for about 24 hours uh but they
[00:11:24] really never found out what that was may have been related to medicine or something but he got his strength back and is back at home. So continue to keep them in your prayers as well. Any others have a prayer request this morning?
[00:11:37] I want to keep Misty in prayer. She's got a special request. But keep Misty in your prayers as well. Yes, ma'am.
[00:11:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:11:45] I will ask that Anto Rodriguez and his family. Okay. I'll get one with me on Nick.
[00:11:53] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:11:53] I ain't heard that one yet. Any others? Prayer request.
[00:12:02] Praise reports. The Lord been good to you. Amen.
[00:12:08] 50 years, mom and dad got you beat they had theirs on the 13th and it was 55 so mom and dad had their anniversary, but happy birthday to y'all yes ma'am, amen amen heard TJ got good news
[00:12:29] yes Eleanor Curtis, alright, go ahead
[00:12:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:12:39] happy birthday to you, happy birthday bless you
[00:12:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:12:55] I got a praise report, we got back safely from the crews, amen Amen.
[00:13:13] We won't talk about that a little bit in the sermon.
[00:13:16] But the, you know, always good to get away.
[00:13:19] But we will rethink that Norfolk thing.
[00:13:23] So, but any others?
[00:13:27] Let's go to the Lord in prayer.
[00:13:31] Lord, what a gracious God you are.
[00:13:35] Lord, we bring up so many things in our life that, of the overall scheme of this world and things in this world, Lord, seem so small.
[00:13:44] Lord there's so many even today that are celebrating birthdays and anniversaries and all around us yet we only know a fraction of their life you allow us to come here and experience one another to be part of your holy church
[00:14:01] to build relationships with one another and to trust one another help one another I'm reminded of that young lady that came by this morning Lord I don't know anything about her other than she needed some help you know
[00:14:18] our life and our whole story lord i ask that you be with each and every person we thank you for the blessings in our life lord even for the sicknesses and things that have affected many people in our
[00:14:32] congregation over the last year you're faithful you heal you touch you provide us with these great doctors and nurses that can do these amazing things and lord sometimes we just take them for granted it's just going to a doctor but it's amazing what you've allowed these people to
[00:14:53] inherit in their knowledge and their experience and so we thank you for the healings that's taking place and the lives that have been touched i ask again lord that you continue just to be with
[00:15:04] the church as we do through our day-to-day activities the missions and the things that we talked about earlier lord our active work that each person in this church gets involved in Lord I impress upon your heart
[00:15:18] for people not to just have salvation but live out that salvation each and every day to share it with others around this community and around the world Lord I thank you again for all the work that was put in
[00:15:31] for the extra stuff during the storms and the services and all but I was reminded then that first Sunday Lord just being able to sit there and talk over social media or pray each one of us can have that time
[00:15:46] of worship in our own very homes. But it's what joy and a privilege to come here with our brothers and sisters in Christ this morning and worship you. And so we thank you. Again, we
[00:15:58] lifted up several other prayer requests, Lord.
[00:16:01] We ask that your hand be upon each and everything. Be with our brothers and sisters in our church that are still healing and recovering from injuries.
[00:16:10] Touch and heal their body.
[00:16:12] We ask this in your name.
[00:16:13] We come to you now as your son taught us to pray.
[00:16:15] 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 those who
[00:16:31] trespass against you and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine
[00:16:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:16:37] is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen apostles creed before we go in through our next hymn i believe in god the father almighty maker of heaven and earth and in jesus christ
[00:17:07] his only son our lord who was conceived by the holy spirit born of the virgin mary I'd like to invite you to join in singing with us one of my favorite hymns.
[00:17:46] I know it's also one of Jane's favorite hymns.
[00:17:48] A mighty fortress is our God.
[00:17:50] It's hymn number 110 in your hymnal.
[00:17:52] The words should also be on the screens.
[00:17:54] Hymn number 110, A Mighty Fortress is Our God.
[00:17:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:17:57] A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing.
[00:18:25] The flood of mortal ills prevailing, For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us foe.
[00:18:48] His strength and power are great, And armed with cruel hate, is not his name.
[00:19:09] We confide our striving for the right man on our side, the man of God's own choosing.
[00:19:28] Thus has who that may be Christ Jesus, it is he.
[00:19:37] On Sabbath his name From age to age the same And he must win the battle This world with devil's field Chose precious to undo He will not fear for God hath willed To triumph in some darkness dream
[00:20:22] We tremble not for him An impure issue Little word shall fail Thanks to him above God gives our eyes With us For total life Oh, so body they make God's truth provide And see His kingdom is for us
[00:21:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:21:37] amen thank you you may be seated you know me very well you understand my deepest part more than i know myself so when i face the darkness when i need to find my way i'll trust in you shepherd
[00:22:56] of this heart of mine your patience has no end you've loved me back into your arms time and time again so if i start to wander like a lamb that's gone astray i'll trust in you
[00:23:33] shepherd of my heart you're the beat you're the sunlight of my days i can rest within your loving so let the cold winds blow and let the storms rage all around i'll trust in you
[00:24:15] shepherd of my life and me you're what I'm living for for all my deepest gratitude you love me even more so as i walk through valleys listening for the master's call i'll trust in you shepherd of
[00:25:02] you're the sunlight days i can as i walk through valleys listening for my master's call trust in Almighty God, you give to each of your children great blessings,
[00:27:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:27:04] watching over and taking care of each one of us.
[00:27:08] There's not a day that goes by, Lord, that your hand isn't upon us, that you're not watching and caring for each one of us.
[00:27:15] We thank you.
[00:27:15] We ask, Lord, that you take now our tithes and our offerings for the work of your kingdom.
[00:27:20] Bless them, multiply them, that somehow, someway, Lord, someone will be able to hear the word of God preached, and in some way at some point accept you as our Lord and Savior we ask this in Christ's name
[00:27:31] Amen I think I remember how to do this I had a sermon planned out that was a continuation of the sermon I preached before all the ice and all that hit and then with going on vacation and the cruise
[00:31:54] it just kind of put me in a different direction and this sermon might not be for anybody in this room this morning or for that matter Facebook or WHIP but this one was for me sometimes we need a wake-up call
[00:32:11] and I think this was the opportunity for me to realize my carnalness and how I can get distracted sometimes not as a pastor but as a person as a Christian so my scripture reading this morning
[00:32:27] comes from Hebrews chapter 14 verses 11 through 13. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and it's powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword piercing even to the division
[00:32:53] of the soul and the spirit and of the joints and marrows and it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of our heart and there is no creature hidden from his sight but all things are naked
[00:33:10] and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account this is the word of god for us the children of god i often talk about prayer and reading the bible and i hope to say most of my
[00:33:30] sermons those are two things that we as believers must do i think i recalled a sermon not too long ago maybe within a year ago and i actually said if you're on a leadership team and you don't pray
[00:33:48] please tell me i will be happy to help you and we'll work towards a understanding of how prayer works in your life and you can work towards getting in more of a habit to pray or simply
[00:34:04] reading scriptures that's the other half to it i think that reading the bible and praying is the respiratory system of a believer i don't think you should have one and not the other but i also i've had to work on prayer for me prayer is one of those things that sometimes
[00:34:39] you can do really really good really really right on time and then other times you gotta just kind of make yourself do it but there's a balance that comes with it it is the respiratory
[00:34:52] spirituals of our souls our bodies for many years when i was years ago i should say when i was here at broad street the first time there was about a three-year period where i got bronchitis every
[00:35:05] time I turned around pneumonia a couple times I said to have pneumonia and not be able to breathe was one of the most fearful things I've ever had it reminded me of my mother who's been an asthmatic all her life and even today why she's
[00:35:25] not here because the issues with lungs fault sometimes to just breathe and that fear that comes over your eyes and your body the tents and tighten up you have i would get bronchitis so bad that i would literally get up at night sit coughing so hard
[00:35:46] i would vomit you just couldn't take a breath and then the anxiety of it picks it kicks in you can't breathe and you start to just it's fearful when you can't breathe everything in your body breaks down i would never say i became totally depressed but it would affect my next day
[00:36:09] work and things that went on just the side effects of it had it so much that they actually told me they could no longer give me prednisone because you're only supposed to take so much in a certain period of time and I said well
[00:36:25] you got to do something I can't breathe but in their side effects to the medicine many side effects my wife actually had one she said was it made me mean you would take it and it would get you just so tense and so filled up and moody and she said
[00:36:48] when they give it to you i know you're going to get mean i don't know what that means you're welcome to ask her but i learned in those years that having pneumonia and bronchitis it weakens everything about you your body doesn't function right it's not balanced you don't have
[00:37:07] strength and your mind even gets foggy if you can't breathe your mind just does little tricks on you and i think the same can be said about our spiritual life the balance of prayer and reading
[00:37:22] the bible has to be equal it may be why so many christians in the world today seem to be for lack of a better term angry why the church seems to be struggling in the last 30 years
[00:37:36] maybe just the weakness in our spiritual walk but today i want to focus on me and maybe offer you something in the process we came off of that cruise and to say it was a different
[00:37:53] cruise will be an understatement we get to norfolk it's 15 degrees it warms up a little bit we come back it's 17 degrees your body's tense the whole time the cruise was cold you just
[00:38:12] everything about it you're confined to a spot you can't go out on the deck you're inside it just seemed like everything was for lack of a better way to put it just enclosing in on us and I found
[00:38:31] myself completely out of my rhythm for me a cruise is a time for me to read the stuff I want to read and to read up on some things I want to read and to get some sermon notes for some other things
[00:38:42] and really just sit there.
[00:38:44] Angela will tell you, I get off to my corner and I read and I pray.
[00:38:50] I didn't do it one time, not one single time.
[00:38:58] I read some things on my phone, little things, passages, but I didn't do any of that.
[00:39:06] And as I got towards the end of that cruise, I felt this battle going on.
[00:39:10] And I can honestly tell you it was a physical and spiritual battle.
[00:39:13] I was leaning more towards the physical, Gary, than I was the spiritual part of my life.
[00:39:20] It was a battle.
[00:39:21] i could feel it angel and i talked about it i wasn't who i normally was on a cruise not at all i thought about adam and eve when they were in the garden and god created them
[00:39:34] and we don't think about this but adam originally was created without any struggle at all god breathes into him life his spirit comes in him the flesh has no control his only desire and and 10 is to worship God, to follow in God's footsteps. All his body did, the flesh did, was
[00:39:57] occupy the spirit and the breath of God. That was it. For me, that's the earliest picture of total sanctification, what we aspire to become as Christians. But when Adam and Eve sinned and fell into temptation, everything changes. Now that battle begins to wage war against the spirit.
[00:40:20] the spirit no longer has control the body doesn't want anything to do with God it only wants to displease God the flesh wants to do what it wants it wants to have what it wants
[00:40:37] it wants to consume what it wants this is how the apostle Paul says it for I know that nothing good dwells in me talking about in its flesh for I have the desire to do what is right
[00:40:52] but i don't have the ability to carry it out that might sound silly but for eight days the further i got away from god and reading and studying the bible the more i had trouble carrying out
[00:41:09] what i was supposed to be as a christian you say you're making too much of it gary not for me that's the time i get closer and get back to god i'm reminded that after the fall
[00:41:23] adam everything becomes cursed there's always going to be that battle between the flesh and the spirit the flesh is driven by self-sufficiency self-desires even for us as believers sin can enter take over your body your ways for certain small and big periods of time
[00:41:49] and important thing is you got to realize it i think reading and praying gets you back to the spirit and when the spirit of god is in control the battle is still there but we don't think about
[00:42:05] it too much as long as the spirit is leading you we kind of what we need to be but sometimes we have to come to a realization that the flesh can overtake us the carnal state is in us always
[00:42:23] romans 3 10 through 12 says there's none righteous no not one no one understands and no one seeks god all have turned aside together they have become worthless no one does good not even one
[00:42:41] that's talking about the carnal the flesh that's the state of a sinner the state of someone who's never got the spirit again in them you see after the curse everything about our lives has become poisoned everything about our life becomes a battle it says in the scriptures
[00:43:08] but now for the believer but now the righteousness righteousness of god has been manifested apart from the law although the law and the prophets bear witness to it the righteousness of god through faith in Jesus Christ is for all who believe. There is no distinction. When you sit
[00:43:28] down and you consume the Bible and you hear the Word of God spoke, it pushes you toward the spiritual righteousness, the holiness. When you sit down and you read the Bible and that Word is
[00:43:42] preached, it's talking about a risen Savior. The Word is the key there in that verse, and John points out the power of it it says it is the spirit who gives life the flesh profits nothing the words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life
[00:44:02] Lee's been doing a Bible study on Wednesday nights for several several months just sitting down and reading the Bible the Bible tells us when we read it it doesn't even come back void it always has a purpose when a person sits down
[00:44:21] down and hears the word of God preached, hears the word of God, they receive it, the Holy Spirit begins to do a miraculous thing in their body inside of them. The Holy Spirit can enter back
[00:44:34] into that flesh. It can penetrate the heart. A new resurrection takes place in that person.
[00:44:41] The dead spirit of man is resurrected and man becomes a new creation in God again. It doesn't do away with the battle, but they become a new person. In John chapter 3, Nicodemus comes to
[00:44:58] Jesus and he actually gives you a story and a picture of exactly that. He comes to Jesus and he says, I hear you preaching and you are a prophet, you're blessed, but how is it that I can
[00:45:13] become born again this intellectual person of society wants to hear this from Jesus and this is what Jesus says most assuredly I say to you unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God that
[00:45:32] which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit do not marvel that I said to you you must be born again for us as Methodists that's justification when you hear the word of god and you hear it preached or you hear it read
[00:45:52] and it changes who you are you see the spirit reveals our iniquity it really it reveals our fallenness everything in the world is pointed out the sin but when the word of god is heard
[00:46:10] and it's digested into your soul you're once again a new creation you're once again one with God our flesh always battles against us and it rebels against God and if the child of God does not feed
[00:46:26] the spirit the spirit becomes weak the flesh becomes stronger that's exactly what was happening in me in eight days eight days the flesh will affect your emotions your attitude and it will get you unbalanced you can literally feel it each day of that cruise i felt like i was a little bit
[00:46:51] further off unbalanced but once a glorious obedient child reaches back out to god the spirit becomes alive again and begins to be fed again when you sit down and start to pray and read and if the spirit of god is fed the spirit of god will begin to burn in your heart again
[00:47:13] and your emotions and your attitude will once again get balanced when we're aligned with the spirit and obeying the word of god the bible says it will not fulfill the lust of the flesh i said this two or three times already it only took me one week to become the most unbalanced
[00:47:38] i've been in probably 10 years just by not doing the things that i typically would do So the child of God feeds on the Word.
[00:47:53] You have to meditate.
[00:47:55] You have to find times of solace and time to spend with God.
[00:48:00] Surrender to Him.
[00:48:02] Worship Him.
[00:48:03] I think it even has a little bit to do with what led up to the cruise.
[00:48:07] Just not being able to come to church on a Sunday morning and worship with y'all.
[00:48:11] When I find myself not surrendering to God and reading the Word, I find myself uneasy, restless, not at peace.
[00:48:23] I find myself agitated and out of rhythm.
[00:48:26] That's why I wanted you to hear that scripture in Hebrews 4.12.
[00:48:30] For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing to the division of the soul and the spirit, to the joints and the marrow.
[00:48:43] And it's a discerner of the thoughts and intents of your heart.
[00:48:47] and there is no creature creature hidden from its sight back when i grew up the pastors read out of the king james verse and then the king james version says that the word of god is quick
[00:49:01] q-u-i-c-k meaning it comes alive it's real it breathes when someone says go do something now they want you to do it quickly we even use that term for women that are pregnant when the baby first begins to move in their body around four months, they call it a quickening. Something
[00:49:28] inside of you is alive. That's what the Word of God does for us. It awakens you. The Bible says the Word of God is quick, powerful. I get frustrated sometimes when people act as though
[00:49:45] it's a novel or just a book or something that you read to fit into culture. That's not the Bible.
[00:49:54] not the bible i read i had to remind myself that in not reading the scriptures like i should on vacation i was neglecting my time and hearing god speak and hearing god talk to me i came back and
[00:50:11] we did the bulletin and the little passage i put in there made me laugh says you want to hear god speak, read your Bible. Want to hear God speak audibly, read your Bible out loud. That's true.
[00:50:34] We must never forget that when we read the scripture, God is talking to us. The Bible is an amazing book of over 40 authors, thousands of years. Each scripture and word validates the other it's a living word that God gave to people so that you and I can hear his voice some people
[00:51:01] never hear the audible voice of God but they can pick it up and read it every single day our society twisted and manipulates the word of God to fit their own selfish desires rather than
[00:51:16] sitting down and reading it and believing it and accepting it and allowing it to God guide their life. So no, the word of God does not change. It doesn't change with the culture and go up and
[00:51:31] down with everything that goes on with it. The word of God is still the word of God and it still means exactly what it says. As I came off of that cruise, I felt a conviction in my soul. We were
[00:51:44] riding down the street and we saw several churches and cars begin to pull in it. And just being honest and confessing, I felt like the Lord wanted me to pull into one of them and just go into a
[00:51:58] worship service and I didn't do it so you can't tell me I'm just weird because you're a preacher it was something inside that was pulling me trying to get me back to where the Lord wanted me to be
[00:52:17] I felt that conviction and I knew something was off about my life it was a joy to get back into your routine your life that what you do as a pastor and to being able to just sit in your
[00:52:33] office and read for a little bit, pray for a little bit. In my reading this week, I was reminded of these words, that one day heaven and earth will pass away, but the Bible says the word of God will
[00:52:49] endure forever. Do you miss talking to God? Do you miss hearing his voice? Do you desire to hear his voice? Paul said to the Ephesians, when he's talking about putting on a full armor of God to
[00:53:10] protect us against the enemy he says to put on the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit and david reminds us when we read it to hide it in our heart that we might not sin against god
[00:53:27] so it might just seem like a verse you read or passage and at some point in your life the lord brings that back so that we won't sin against him if you would stand for me please this morning
[00:53:49] The picture that Paul offers us in Hebrews is that the Bible cuts and it pierces through every aspect of your body.
[00:53:59] I think it's a physical image and I think it's a spiritual image.
[00:54:04] It cuts into the marrow, the bone, and it points out our intent of our hearts.
[00:54:15] The Lord doesn't promise that we're going to walk righteous every single moment.
[00:54:21] Every one of us will fall in sin.
[00:54:23] the point is to realize it and go back to God the old bible thumping preachers said that the bible is a dividing asunder meaning it pierces to that part that needs to be drawn to God it tells us
[00:54:48] what we do wrong and points out when things get blurry and when we begin to tolerate a destructive behavior it points out our intentions when we try to please ourselves rather than god the key is to stay in the habit of practicing reading and praying to god even us pastors have
[00:55:11] to be reminded of that sometimes the word of the lord is perfect and it purifies your heart it leads you to walk in righteousness and walk in the ways of god paul said to the colossians
[00:55:28] let the word of christ dwell in you richly richly meaning that it can cover everything in your life there's never anything that can't help and for us as a believer we should desire to hear it
[00:55:48] breathe it consume it and be reminded of just how great the bible is i remember there's old time bible preachers used to carry one around with them now we got them on our phones and
[00:56:08] even on our phone sometimes we neglect to pick it up and read it if you feel like you're out of balanced you're not alone get home pray a little bit read a little bit and allow the holy spirit
[00:56:24] to speak to each one of you in the name of the father son and holy spirit amen our closing hymn
[00:56:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:56:34] this morning is he leadeth me remember our altar is always open if you'd like to come and pray if You felt like you needed to be a little closer to God this week.
[00:56:44] This altar is open.
[00:56:46] The pastor is available to speak to you as well if you'd like to come.
[00:56:51] He leadeth me is hymn number 128 in your hymnal.
[00:56:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:56:54] God's hand that leadeth me, his own hand he leadeth me.
[00:57:38] His faithful follower would be, or by his hand he leadeth me.
[00:57:50] As I was standing there, it occurred to me,
[00:58:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:58:55] the feedback might be from a mic here, but we'll get that fixed next week.
[00:59:03] It's good to be in the house of the Lord this morning.
[00:59:06] Good to see smiling faces and hear good music, hear the Word of God preached.
[00:59:13] Invite someone to come back with you next week.
[00:59:17] Let the words of our mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in our sight.
[00:59:21] O Lord, You are our strength and You are our Redeemer.
[00:59:25] In the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, and all God's children, we say, Amen.
