This sermon emphasizes the concept of finding sanctuary in God, drawing parallels from Ezekiel's words about God being a little sanctuary for His scattered people. It highlights the importance of having a place of refuge, protection, and meeting with God, even in times of displacement and loneliness. The sermon expresses gratitude for the community of believers, both physically and online, who provide a sanctuary for worship, fellowship, and strength in the journey of faith.

If you have your Bibles and would like to turn with us, we have a short one-verse passage in Ezekiel 11 and 16. It's not necessary for you to turn, but if you want to, you can and share this passage with us. Ezekiel 11 and 16, and there the writer and the prophet, speaking on behalf of this Lord, said, Therefore say, in Ezekiel 11 and 16, Thus saith the Lord, Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come. Let me reread the last phrase there, or the last several words. Yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come. And my topic this morning is taken from those three words and that passage, the little sanctuaries. I will be a little sanctuary. Our topic is the little sanctuaries. A sanctuary is obviously a holy place, a temple, a church, more than likely in our day and time and in our culture, we think of it as a sanctuary. A sanctuary is defined as a place of refuge, a place of protection. It's also defined as a reservation where animals or birds are sheltered. Often we come into some town or city and by the side of the highway there will be the signs that say bird sanctuary, bird refuge. You can't harm the birds in that town. It's against their law, and so it's a sanctuary. To the Jews, the sanctuary was the temple in Jerusalem. It was a place where God met them. It was where the Shekinah glory came down, and they knew that the Lord was still among them. But before this verse can really come alive for us this morning, we need to get into the setting of the Scripture and into the history that brought these words to pass from the lips of Ezekiel. The prophet Ezekiel is speaking to the two tribes, which we call Judah. There were, of course, twelve tribes, but this is about 600 B.C., and there's been a lot of bad history in the nation of Israel. If we go all the way back, maybe about a thousand years before Christ, we come into the time when Israel maybe was at Exodus and under the reign of men like their first three kings, Saul and David and Solomon. Then about 931 years before Christ, Solomon's son Rehoboam took the throne, and through his bad management and his not listening to his people, the kingdom split and divided. Ten of the twelve tribes, and most of you know all this history anyway, but ten of the two tribes said, we don't want anything else to do with the house of David, and they split away from Jerusalem, set up their capital in Samaria, no longer had Rehoboam as their king, but named one Jeroboam to be their king, set up a capital in Samaria, never wanted again to go to Jerusalem. And I can't imagine this part. In two cities, Dan and Bethel, they set up golden calves to worship. Immediately going into idolatry, can you imagine it, Brother David? And by the way, David and Kathy, we have David and Kathy here anyway, and we're glad to have that. We're glad to meet you, Sister Kathy. Thank the Lord that you've come this morning. But they immediately went into idolatry. Can you imagine the people of God that had been under David and Solomon, all the Lord had done for them, just immediately being willing in two of their cities to have golden calves set up for them to worship. The Lord sent prophets to these ten tribes known as Israel. Theirs was a roller coaster of history. They'd repent, and then they'd go back and sin, and they'd get rid of their idols, and they'd get them again. It was an up-and-down thing until God finally had enough, and long about 720-some years before Christ, the Lord caused the Assyrians to come and to take these ten tribes into captivity. They were scattered all over the empire, lost among the nations, and are known to us and are known in Bible history as the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. They never returned or reestablished themselves as a nation of people. Individuals returned and various things like that, but they never came into their own again as a national entity. Meanwhile, the two tribes that stayed at Jerusalem, supposedly faithful to the house of David, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, came to be known as Judah. And there they remained at Jerusalem and at the beautiful temple that Solomon had built for about another 135 years or so. And their history, sad to say, was not much better than that of the ten tribes, up and down, repenting and sinning, repenting and sinning. And then long about 605 B.C., the Lord sent the Babylonians to capture these two tribes and take them away from Jerusalem. Men like Daniel and the three Hebrew children were in this captivity that were taken from the city. To begin with, not everyone was taken. A few years later, about 10,000 were taken to Babylon, including Ezekiel. A few years later, the forces came back and destroyed the magnificent temple that Solomon had built and left the city desolate. But there was a difference in the ten and the two. We told you the ten tribes went away into this year in captivity and never returned again as a nation. The two tribes of Judah were promised that in 70 years they would come back to their city and their land. Of course, it would be desolate and their temple was gone. But that was true. And the king came along and overthrew the Babylonians. And under that kingdom of the Medes and the Persians, they were allowed to return to Jerusalem. And the text of our, the statement of our text this morning is long about 600 B.C., during the second deportation of about 10,000 of the Jewish people, including Ezekiel. That's when he speaks these words and says, Tell my people that wherever I scatter them, that I will be to them as a little sanctuary. Can you imagine the horror of these times? Forcibly removed from their homes, their holy city, their temple of God, their businesses, their land, their inheritances, perhaps families split, but you dare not resist, you'd be killed immediately, perhaps. Driven like cattle, hundreds of miles from Jerusalem into Babylon, into other cities, to a strange and a foreign land, perhaps paraded through the streets as captors of war. I ask, can we imagine their pain? And for myself, I say, I'm sure that I can. But it was in the early stages of this 70 years of captivity that the word of the Lord came to the prophet Ezekiel. We just read for you, and he said, Tell the people, tell them that although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they come. God was telling them, I will not forget you. God was telling them, I will be with you anyway. God was telling them, while they didn't have their temple and they couldn't get to it if they had it, I will be as a little sanctuary for you. Again, the Jewish people were accustomed to worshiping God in Jerusalem. That was the law. That was where they were supposed to go. They were accustomed to meeting Him at the temple. That was their sanctuary. There God met them again in His Shekinah glory. Exodus says, when they were built in the tabernacle, that was, of course, the forerunner of the great temple, the Lord said, There will I meet with the children of Israel. And so that was their meeting place. That was where God came down in their presence. That was their sanctuary, their haven, their refuge. But they were now captives in a foreign land, Brother Andrew. They couldn't go to Jerusalem. If they could get there, their temple, soon after Ezekiel's words, was destroyed. But again, God told Ezekiel, Anyway, tell them, I will be as a sanctuary for them. God was promising them that in this strange land, I will meet with you. In this strange land, I will be your refuge. In this strange land, I will be your courage, and I will be your hope. Don't despair. And He was. He was true to His word. There were men like Daniel who were part of this captivity. You know the story of Daniel, how he became even a ruler among them. Toward the end of this time, there was the lady Esther and how she became a queen. You think about Daniel's prayer room. He went, Brother Bill, three times a day into this place, and with his face toward Jerusalem, he called on God. Wow, that must have become quite a little sanctuary for Daniel through those years. And who knows how God really met with him there from time to time. In the second chapter of Daniel, you know, the king had the dream, and none of his wise men could interpret it. And so he said, Off with all their heads. And that would have been Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego too. And Daniel said, Hold on. Give us a little bit of time. And he went in to his friends, and he said, Boys, let us desire the mercies of the God of heaven. Somehow I just know that they found a little place where God became a sanctuary for them because the next verse says that then was the secret revealed to Daniel in the night vision. There'd been a place there where, though in a strange land, away from their temple, God had met with them and had supplied their need and had spared their lives. This was the story, I believe, of the nation of Judah in their captivity. God had promised that he would be a little sanctuary for them. He'd be a little place of refuge for them away from their Jerusalem. And I believe that through the history there he was, and he kept fast his words unto John and brought them back into their land. But enough about Judah this morning. Let's fast forward about two and a half thousand years to me and you, to us who are preterists. I don't particularly like the word, but it's got to be called something, I guess. In my book, I never used the word preterist or never used the word preterism. I did because I didn't want people new to the idea thinking that I'd come up with some new ism. There's so many isms around, and here's just one more ism. Obviously the word preterist has to do with being fulfilled in the past. It's roots, as we understand from those who are educated. So we must be identified some way. But to those who are of the preterist persuasion, who believe that properties of the Bible have been fulfilled, we are much like Judah in some ways. We're not captives, but lots of us have lost our temples. In a very physical sense, lots of us have lost our physical temples just as the Jews lost theirs. We've lost our sanctuary, or if I might put it plainly, we've lost our church where we went for so many years because of our newfound understanding of the Word of the Lord. Some of us may have been driven out, hopefully not. Some of us, no doubt, were made to feel so unwelcome that we just finally left. Some of us were so vexed by the false teaching that we could stand it no longer. I got an email this week from a brother. He was in the church that he'd been in, but he has come to see the truth of fulfilled eschatology, and he wrote this. I have to admit, I am hanging by my fingernails to just stay in this type of environment. But it's killing me. And so those of you who've been there, done that, you know what the brother's talking about. Some of you perhaps were told you can come, but don't ask any questions, don't make any comments, don't cause any trouble. Or like me, at many of the churches I used to preach at, you can come, but you can't preach. We lost our sanctuary. In a very physical sense, we lost our sanctuary. One of the strangest feelings for Betty Sue and me has been to get up on Sunday mornings and not go to church. After a lifetime of being faithful in attendance of the Lord's Day in church, preaching most of that time, and then to get up on Sunday mornings and nowhere to go. We visit here and there occasionally, enjoy it, but if they find out what we believe, they don't want us around. Lost our sanctuary. We who've dared to stand for the truth about eschatology have indeed lost our physical churches. We've lost fellowship, we've lost friendship, we've been rejected, we've been outcast, we've been called heretics. Most of you know that my oldest grandson will begin getting married next Saturday. My first grandchild to get married, and my oldest grandchild, and he is a grandson. Most of you know that he and his fiancé desperately wanted me to marry them. And I was so appreciative of the fact that not only my grandson, which you might kind of expect that he would want Papa to marry him, but his fiancé has fallen in love with our family and she wants, wanted me to marry her and him as well. They are getting married in a real nice, beautiful local church, and about a couple weeks ago, the board and the pastor of the church determined that I would not be allowed to officiate in the ceremony of marriage in their sanctuary. And of course, the reason for that is because I'm, in their opinion, such a heretic, since I believe that the prophecies of the Bible have been fulfilled. But in spite of all this, I am going back this morning to the promise of God to Judah, and I am saying to you that it has been fulfilled in my life, Sister Sharon, that in spite of my having lost the physical temples, in spite of my having lost the physical fellowship of the bodies of other believers, that God, as he was to Judah, has been a little sanctuary for me and Betty Sue. And I give him the praise this morning. I glorify him, and I thank him. It is because in the strange places to which we were scattered, he's been a little sanctuary and a place of refuge. Those of you who have traveled this journey of which I speak, you know what I'm talking about, and you know that of which we speak. These promises to Judah have been fulfilled in my life, yet will I be as a little sanctuary to them in the countries where they're scattered. There's such beautiful scriptures in the Psalms that promise that he will be this to us. In Psalms 91 and 4 in the NIV, he will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge. Sanctuary, refuge, haven, all the same. Psalms 119 and 114, you are my refuge and my shield. Psalms 46 and 1 in the King James now, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Proverbs 14 and 26, his children shall have a place of refuge. I've claimed these promises. They've been true in my life, perhaps in the years ago, but even more particular since I've lost my sanctuary. Proverbs 18 and 10, the name of the Lord is a strong tower, and Christ is running into it and it's safe, a little sanctuary in the name of the Lord. This is my testimony this morning, Bereans, and many of you could give this same testimony, that since I've found more of his truth, I haven't got it all, Sister Brenda, but since I've found more, since I understand more about the Bible than I did most of my 71 years, I've got 71 this week. It looks so bad written out, but in most of my 71 years, I didn't see the truth that God's revealed to me in the last few years, and this truth is so wonderful. Hallelujah. One of the prices we've had to pay is worth it. It's worth it, and I thank God for it this morning. Hallelujah. But my testimony is that he's truly been a little sanctuary for me, and I use the word little. I won't walk around and get down there where you are, but I'm gonna stay here for all our brothers and sisters out yonder. That was kind of my custom. Hallelujah. Okay. Brother Gary is saying that for yourself. Thank you, Jesus. But I use the word he's been a little sanctuary to me, not to belittle God, as Brother Bill talked about. We see our God too little sometimes, but I use it because the Lord used it. He said he'd be to them a little sanctuary. I expect that Daniel and those three Hebrew children to be a big sanctuary, but here we are this morning, rejected by others. I've turned more to him, I suppose. Trouble kind of drives you to the Lord, doesn't it? Sad that it ought not to be like that, Sister Savannah, that trouble drives us to the Lord, but somehow it seems like it does, and I guess I've turned more to him, and Benny Sue's turned more to him, and he's met us in our little private places, and he's brought courage and strength and hope. And what he's done, he's given me more joy, Brother David. This is Brother David here. There's so many Davids here. This must be a religious group. Hallelujah. Brother David Carraway, God in all of this has given me more joy than I've ever had in all my decades of living for him. There's more happiness, more gladness, more freedom, and more interest in him. I'm just more excited about the Word, and more excited about what he has, and what we have to offer people, than I ever was. I'll tell you, going to church and trying to live for God and trying to pastor and trying to be what you ought to be can just get kind of ho-hum sometimes. And that's how it got many times in my life, I admit. But I'm telling you, the Lord has lit a new fire under my feet with the revelation of the Gospel and what he really did for us in those 40 years, from Pentecost to Latter-day Saints. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. The little sanctuaries, those times, those places in our lives, when perhaps alone, but not necessarily, we meet with God, or better still, God meets with us. Now I know we all believe that the Lord lives in our hearts, where he's tabernacled and all of that. I realize that. But again, in the Christian life, there are those times when, just as you know he's there, more real than yesterday, because somehow, in the intervening moments, he's revealed himself more real to you. I spoke on the phone. He called me, a man in Federal, North Carolina. I won't identify him any further, but he's a dispatcher at a big trucking point, and he gets to see truckers from all over everywhere. And he says, I'm handing them out that DVD, you've got to be kidding, and if they're interested, I'll give them your book. Thank you, brother. And he says, I'm getting people, sometimes somebody comes back and he'll hug my neck, thank you for that stuff you gave me. And I'm sure he gets other kinds of response too. But he went on to say, since I found this truth, he said, brother, I just have such peace. Such peace. In the midst of having lost his tabernacle and being rejected and outcast, such peace. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. We can have these little times, these sanctuaries, where again, God meets us. It may be in the prayer room or the church house. We come away from those experiences encouraged and uplifted and strengthened to face the enemy. Again, it may be a church service. When church as usual becomes church unusual. That's exciting times, people. Maybe in your prayer life again, when prayer time as usual becomes prayer time unusual. Because you know you're not in your room alone. Again, it can be our natural, normal habitats where God creates these sanctuaries and his presence fills the space. And in his presence, our needs are met. It might be your bedroom, your bathroom, your closet, your car, spot in the backyard. Sister Michelle in France calls me occasionally. Good morning, Sister Michelle. Good afternoon, it is there for her. Her husband works a long ways away and she's often there alone. She's called me sometime and she's in her bedroom in the bed and she's reading. And she talks to me and then she tells me what she's going to go back to just to start doing. And I can just know and feel that that bedroom becomes a little sanctuary. Her and God together. Her heart is encouraged. Her life has got the strength to go on. Or maybe a situation like Betty Sue's father, Brother Walter Giddings. He called him Brother Walter. He was a farmer and a preacher. Pastored churches and I guess most of his time pastored more than one at the same time. Situation where he built one church on the first and second Sunday mornings and the third and the fourth he'd build another one. Things like that. I loved him to death. He was one precious, dear, sweet man of God. He had a place in the woods. Brother Dale, we would go to pray. And I know that it often became a sanctuary. They say, I never did see them, but they say that there was an imprint of two knees in the spot where he knelt because he'd come there so often to kneel there to seek his God. My wife, his daughter, even has memories of hearing his voice coming from the woods as he implored his God for his church and for his people and for the needs around. And I'm sure this morning, Brother Kyle, that there were times when Brother Walter put his knees in those spots and he called on the Lord. And it was like as the heavens were brass. And he just felt like the only one who heard his cries were the birds and the squirrels and the rabbits. I'm sure there were times like that. But I'm also sure there were times that that spot in the woods became a sanctuary because his presence was so real there. He could rise up and feel refreshed and encouraged to go on in the strength of his experience with God. And I hope we've all had these experiences. And if we don't, you don't have them. When we weep in his presence, when we rejoice in his presence, we praise him. Or Brother David, your pastor, that Brother David, it might be a moment in your study. I've had a few of them in my 50 years of ministry. I've had a few of them. When you're studying, and as it were, Brother David, it's like as though a great light shone. Not literally. But it's like a great light shone because here is this passage and you're fresh with it. Somehow it seems like the light of heaven shines on it and there it is. You know what it is saying. Tears begin to trickle down your eyes. And you just realize that today I'm not alone in my study. Somebody else is here. The Almighty has come and made a little sanctuary for us. And I can't explain these times. I'm just talking about them and hoping that you grasp what I'm trying to say and that you take your own life experiences and fill in the holes and the blanks. And you can't explain these experiences. All I know, we say maybe, is I went in discouraged and broken and weary and worn. And I came out of this little sanctuary with courage and strength to go on and to face tomorrow. That's what I'm talking about, people, in One Dimension this morning about these little sanctuaries. Maybe the old hymn explains it better. And you just say, Heaven came down and glory filled my soul. If you had those times, that's what I'm talking about. The little sanctuaries. And prayer as usual becomes prayer unusual because He's with you. We can all have these times of intimate worship and praise in our presence. And beyond that, dear Bereans, and dear Bereans in cyberspace, we must have them. I believe as surely as He promised Judah there would be a little sanctuary to them in the places where they were scattered. I believe there will be a little sanctuary to you and me this morning. And I believe He will provide a little sanctuary for us who have also lost our physical temples. And I'm so glad we live in the age to come. I read this passage and I just thought about that. Wow, that's like this age. You know, the age to come. In this age, Jerusalem and the temple, that's where you worshiped. But the Lord said in John 4, the day is coming when you won't worship in Jerusalem nor in this mountain in Samaria. And what He was saying is that you're all gonna have to come here to find me. You're all gonna have to come here to worship. The day is coming when wherever you are, you can worship God and you can find His presence. And that kind of happened in a little way in Judah's captivity. They had gotten away from Jerusalem, but they could still meet with God because He promised He would meet with them. And for me and you today who live in the age to come, we can worship God anywhere. And we can find Him anywhere. It's no longer about geography. And if the Christian movement and the Christian world could see that, it's no longer about geography. Then we'd have this, all this war and trouble over natural Jerusalem would disappear. The only significance of natural Jerusalem this morning is its history, its historical significance. It's a place to find God or to have any meaning for salvation. It's no more important than Virginia Beach or Rocky Mount. That was yesterday. Hallelujah. This sanctuary can happen in the first church on Main Street. You might find it there or it might not. It could happen in a little church on Back Street or it might not. Or it could be like Moses on the backside of the mountain looking after his father-in-law's sheep. And all of a sudden, the shrub starts burning. And the Lord says to him, Brother Cal, take off your shoes, buddy. You're standing on holy ground. That's sanctuary, people. That's His only presence. Sanctuary. I love it. I love it when you feel like you're standing on holy ground. I hope we all have these times when wherever you are becomes a sanctuary. God refreshes you and encourages you and strengthens you, gives you direction. And you come away like that beautiful song that was written about Mary. I think she'd sing the resurrected Jesus. You know what it is? Mr. Cathy, here's one you've seen. Brother Bill, I've just seen Jesus. And I've never been beside my God. Oh, what wonderful words. And that's the experiences this morning, people, that will keep me and you going for God and living for Him and faithful for Him. And if we don't have those places and times when God creates where we are in a sanctuary and makes us to feel like we've been in the presence of the King, then we're going to grow so weak and weary that we might falter by the way. And I just cry out this morning, oh God, give us more private times like this. Give us more church times like this. Again, when prayer time becomes prayer time as usual becomes prayer time unusual. And church time as usual becomes church time unusual. Because the presence of the Almighty in a supernatural and different kind of way is in our hearts. And our hearts are refreshed. And our lives are recharged. And we can go now. We're going to make it. Jesus was one of the greatest examples of need for this kind of thing. When I was a little boy, they used to sing in the little church where I went. I can't remember it all, but something like, I just steal away. It was I just steal away. When I'm so bothered, when I just can't handle it, I just steal away, the song says. I just steal away. Jesus is our greatest example. I don't even have to read you scriptures. You know how many times he retreated to the hills. Brother Andrew, to bow down there and to get in communion, to have his father meet him, and have a sanctuary be made out of that cave or wherever it was. He was calling on his father. Weary and worn off, and he'd go up to the mountains. Worn out by the multitudes and the crowds. He'd come down in the morning. Brother Stan refreshed. Ready to face the day again. Little sanctuaries. Little sanctuaries. They keep us going. And that is what we need this morning. And there's so many examples that I can't read them to you. Can't tell you about them all. I just had so much, I had to leave out a lot. But let me shift our focus this morning to get to the climax of this sermon. Well, we can't get any better than that, can we? But we'll meet God. I don't mean my sermon. I mean the little sanctuaries. But I'm going somewhere else this morning with these thoughts. My Bereans, my brothers and sisters in Virginia Beach, like the Jews in Ezekiel's day, many of you have literally lost your fine temples. You're not welcome with what you believe anymore in the first church on the corner. But God has provided for you a little sanctuary and we are sitting in it this morning. Amen. A little sanctuary. 945 Riondra. Wow. Insignificant to most of the city. Wow. The work of the Lord has provided for you and for me a little sanctuary here on Riondra. We're in it. God has provided for you and me one of the best preachers I know. And Brother David Curtis. Love you, Brother David. Now he's not perfect. Because you don't believe everything I believe I don't think. He's got some changing to do. But as wrong as I was about so much, I probably got some changing to do. But you know, we love the same Jesus and just about everything I guess we see. God, I'm just kidding with you. But I'm telling you, I've seen a lot of preachers in my 71 years. And in your little sanctuary, God's provided you a gym to feed you the Word of the Lord. I think of Romans. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How shall they believe in Him in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And God's provided you a preacher. Love Him. Respect Him. Honor Him. Forgive Him. Support Him. Hallelujah. Help Him along the way. It's a tough task pastoring people here in this haven. Here in this haven. Here in this refuge this morning. This sanctuary. Get my message people. God's given you a sanctuary. A place of refuge. You meet Jesus here. You even sing His praises here, Brother Bill. You pray here. You come to worship Him freely here. You learn His truth. Even about fulfilled eschatology. And Brother David, you can come here and you can preach unfettered the unsearchable riches of God. You can. Hallelujah. And yet I know that the building is not the church. But you need a building. Hallelujah. It's the body of believers. That's the church. And God's given you each other. We're part of a body of believers. The church. And here in this room and among these relationships that we can form here. We can have fellowship. We can have friendship. We can get encouragement. We can have the bread of life fed to us. And we can rejoice and be glad in His salvation. I'll tell you this, Bereans here in the present house this morning, there are others out yonder that you just don't know how much they'd like to have what you've got this morning in your sanctuary. They'd love to be here. And I'd love to see them. I long for the day when we have a homecoming or something like that. Bereans, appreciate one another. Love one another. Forgive one another. Encourage one another. Again, appreciate your pastor and his dear wife Kathy. Love them. Encourage them. Forgive them. Be faithful to them. Separately this morning, we might all be weak and faltering. Separately, cut apart, scattered everywhere alone, we might be weak and faltering. But together, together Bereans, you can be strong for the Lord. You can make a difference where you are. And you can finish your race successfully. Well said was a Proverbs, to a better one. To a better one. Because when one stumbles, no one can help him up. I saw a sign on a church marquee on the way up here this morning. And Brother Richard said, pulling together, we can keep everything from falling apart. So we've got each other. We've got a little sanctuary. We've got a body of believers. Cleave to each other. Cleave together. What a sanctuary. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Brother Gary said in the communion time before the service, the 10 o'clock service that a lot of you didn't make this morning but was precious and enjoyable, this Brother David brought a wonderful lesson from the Old Testament. Brother Gary was talking about life. And he said something like this. You'll appreciate this, Brother David, the pastor. With all the ups and the downs and the hard struggles there are, what more do I need than to be able to come here on Sunday morning? Why? Because this is a sanctuary. This is a place where you can meet God. This is where you can meet each other and you can get encouragement and strength. Monday morning, you face whatever is out there that is opposed to you. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. You've got a sanctuary. BBC. Now, across the highway, there's CBN, Brother Kyle. It's a wonderful operation. Great big place doing things for the Lord. We're glad for you. Over there is CBN. Over here is BBC. We're thankful for it. But there's more this morning about this little sanctuary. There's more. Now, most of you may know, but some of you may not know. And we've got such a good crowd this morning, Brother David. I was afraid when you put it on the website that Glenn Hill was going to be preaching this morning that they'd thin out. But they've encouraged my heart this morning. A lot of them, most of them are here. Hallelujah. But I'm sure that most of you here know, but some of you may not, that most of the people in this service this morning are not here. Wow, what do you mean, Brother Glenn? Well, they're not in our physical sanctuary, but are only listening to me preach. They're watching me preach. Isn't my tie straight? My hat don't... You know, when you get ready at 6 o'clock in the morning, by the time preaching time comes, you've got to be a mess. They're not here physically. My dear Bereans, I love you. God working through you has provided for all of us, I use them Bible terms here, who are far off. He's provided for us a little sanctuary too. What are you talking about? Preaching me? Hallelujah. Those of us who live hundreds and thousands of miles away, who've also lost our sanctuaries, who also have no place where we feel welcome to worship. We can, on a Sunday morning, pardon the non-high tech language, tune in I'm from another generation. Tune in at 11 o'clock on a Sunday morning. We can tune in from all over the world and worship with you. Glory. Glory, that is just amazing. Thank the Lord for all the communication inventions and for all the geniuses like Brother Garrett that understand how to work it. But we can tune in and worship you with you. I hear your great preacher teaching too. I can receive encouragement and strength from your Sunday morning service too. And I do. And Betty Sue and I, when the service is over, we can, and everybody in Internet land, we can arise from our places and we can say amen. I've been in the sanctuary. I've met the Lord. I've fed His presence. I've been fed. I'm strengthened. I'm stronger now. His Word is more real to me. Hallelujah. And you Bereans have made that possible. My dear Bereans, my dear Brother David, my dear Brother Mike Loomis, the AD 70 man, Brother Gary, Brother Garrett, God has used you to provide a little sanctuary for me. Thank you. I appreciate it. And on behalf of all those out yonder, I appreciate it for them. It's a wonderful thing if you don't have this physical little sanctuary to come to to hear preaching that you can believe in. And it's so wonderful that you can at least in your home join in in a real kind of way and be a part of the service. Thank you. Brother Garrett, God's used you to provide a little sanctuary for me. And when I come to the website and I log into the chat room, this is so serious and this is so sacred, I'm entering my sanctuary that you have provided for me through the hand of God. Thank the Lord. I'm entering it. When I come to your website, and when I click on that Berean Live icon, I'm coming into church, Brother Rich. Coming into church. With Sister Sandy, your official greeter. I got that back. With Sister Sandy, the official greeter at my church and at the front door of my sanctuary. Glory! When she says or types in there, Welcome Glenn and Betty Sue. Good morning. I just say, I'm smiling big. And I'm happy to be here. And I'm looking around for a pew where I can take my seat and enjoy the service. But I can't sit down because somebody else that I don't know and I've never met is saying, Welcome Brother Glenn. We're glad you're here. And in my mind and in my heart, Brother Andrew, I'm saying, Wow, what a friendly church. This is my church. This is my sanctuary. I'm coming into. Hallelujah, people. This is beautiful to me. This is beautiful to me. What a friendly church, I say. I guess it's a cyberspace sanctuary. And I really want to shake Brother Bob, that's Sandy's husband. I really want to shake Brother Bob's hand and hug Sandy. That's just kidding, really. I want to shake both their hands and hug both their necks. And everybody else in the cybersanctuary. But I can't. Can't do that. We're thousands of miles apart. But Berean Live in the chat room, Brother Gary, you're the next best thing. And I know you just started it this year, but what a blessing it is to so many, including me. It's a sacred place, this cyberspace sanctuary. It's a holy place. It's my little sanctuary. And I have to confess to all you folks on the internet, I can't do much chatting in the chat room. After I say good morning, hello, when the service starts, I just can't keep talking. I feel like I'm talking while the preacher's preaching or something. Some of you can do that. I can't follow what he's saying and tell you something, too. And especially since I type like this. A, B, I, L. Sister Sandy says she types the biblical way. Seek and find or something like that. Seek and you shall find. Assert and find. I call it the hunting text system. But Savannah, people laugh at me. I'll have, I wrote that book. It took a long time. Thank the Lord. I want to hug everybody there, but I can't. But being able to see them on the internet, see their names there, know they're there, hear their words, is the next best thing. I admit, Sister Kathy, and Sister Kathy that's with us this morning, and I admit that for Betty Sue and me, since we took a stand for truth about the end times, there's been a lot of lonely times. Been a lot of lonely times. Sister Kathy and Brother Bill has another song you can sing. In fact, I told Betty Sue, I didn't know I was going to preach now until just a few days ago. I told Betty Sue two or three weeks ago, I said, I want to ask Sister Kathy to sing that chorus. You know what I just told you? Been a lot of lonely times for us. You know where I'm at. You've been there, many of you. I want to ask her to sing that song. I'll Never Be Lonely Again. That's incredible, people. I appreciate you Bereans. I thank you. You've done so much for me, and soon to be perhaps hundreds of others who watch through the internet and Berean live. I'll Never Be Lonely Again. No, never again. And I know the song Sister Elsie's written about us finding Jesus, and he's a friend that has all of us. But I was thinking of it, Sister Kathy, in terms that I found you, I found Brother David, I found Sister Sharon, and I found this body of believers here. And you've loved us, you've taken us in, you act like you wanted to be with us, so that you want us to be with you. And I'll Never Be Lonely Again. I have you. Hallelujah. You're here in BBC in Virginia, and you on the internet, listening intently to me just now. You are my church. You are my brothers and sisters in Christ. Brother David perhaps somewhere having a little retreat, but it's so well-deserved. Brother Mike Loomis in California, the 80-70 dot net genius that I think makes all this possible. Brother Gary here, and his son Brother Garrett. I want you to know, Marines, that when you turn on your high-tech equipment on Sunday mornings, and begin to work those communication miracles, I want you to know, Brother Garrett, you're performing a sacred task. Hear me, son? I believe in the eyes of God, you're doing a holy thing, because you're creating, in the words of my text, a little sanctuary for me, and for so many others. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. We are all so grateful to all of you. Thank you. God bless you. Thank you, Garrett. Thank you, Gary. Thank you, Mike. Thank you, David and Kathy. Thank you, everyone in the Marines here in Virginia. And thank all you Marines across the world who support this ministry and make all of this possible. Thank you. I appreciate what you're doing. God bless you. Marines of Virginia Beach, I want you to feel appreciated this morning, and loved, because you truly are. I express it for myself, and I express it for all these who live further away than I do. Thank you. We appreciate what you've done for us, and are doing, and we love you so much. Oh, you even have something called a safe haven for Preterist women. That's just Trisha Gans. Where is it? Colorado, Arizona, somewhere out west. Where is it? Where? Nevada. I knew it was west. Long ways away. Sister Trisha, they're operating this thing called a safe haven for women. Wow! If I ever heard anything that sounds like a little sanctuary, that does. A safe haven. A sanctuary is a haven. A safe haven for Preterist women. I understand that participation in that safe haven has about tripled this summer. Thank you, Sister Trisha. Keep up the good work. We appreciate what you're doing. And honey, I guess we're going to have to get you a laptop so you can have your own email and so you can log in to this safe haven for Preterist women and enjoy the little sanctuary that's been created there for you. Have your own email address. Sister Sandy, when she emails me, she always closes with something like this. Give Betty Sue a precious Betty Sue or something like that. Give her my love. I was just thinking, if you had your own little laptop and email address, she could just tell you herself directly. Then I'd have to do something like that. Your birthday's already passed though, but have you spent the money yet? And speaking of Sister Sandy, Sister Sandy Dorian, Florida, thank you, Sister Sandy, for all you do for this ministry. Hallelujah. She said last night she spent her summer and she didn't tell me this for me to tell it to you, but I knew she'd been so busy as a brim. She said, I spent, not to go back to school, teaching Monday. Summer's over, but I've spent most of this summer in ministry. Yes. Yes. Thank you, Sister Sandy. She's looking after your Facebook page, looking after your prayer room, your chat room greeter. No, I don't like that. My sanctuary greeter. So much more. Thank you, Sister Sandy. You're very much appreciated. Brother David, can you say amen loud enough so we can hear it? It's kind of nervous preaching at Brother David's church because wherever he is around the world, he can watch me. I've got to be careful. Can't take any liberties. Chuck Cody, down the floor. Just blows my mind away, Sister Sharon, that they tell me every week, a day or two after the sermon, he's got the sermon typed up. Wow. Amazing. He can type it up that quickly, especially as long as Brother David preaches. I ain't got much room to talk, but I don't get a chance very often, so I've got to say a lot while I'm here. It just amazes me. And what a resource that is. The other day, I had this lady who read my book, and then she called me, and she was questioning about Acts 1-11, I believe it was, and she said the Bible talks about that when he went away, he would come again in like manner if he went away. And I was so busy, and I didn't have time to go in a long spiel, and if I would try to answer her and type it out, again, it would take me a week to get a few pages. Brother Chuck Cody, I went to the website, I saw where David had preached on Acts, I went to Acts, and I saw where he preached on the first chapter, and I went there and I found out where he preached on the 11th verse. My Lord, there it was in writing. I could click it up, print it out, and send it to the lady. What a resource. Thank you, Brother Chuck, for making that possible. Brother Brian Gann is the webmaster on this thing. I don't know what he does, but that's quite a site, a lot of resources you got there. Thank you, Brother Brian. His daddy, Brother Bill, handles the podcast, they say. I don't know who all does what, but after Garrett and Gary have finished the filming and maybe some editing, I don't know, he takes it and sends it all around the world and I guess puts it back on the site. And I suppose this week if we, Lord, this is bad news, isn't it? I suppose if this, usually on your site, the sermon of the last Sunday is on there for the next week, but I guess you won't be listening to it again, that's for sure, and maybe somebody upstarts, they'll quit, but I guess I'll be on your website for the next week with this sermon, or this talk. What a resource. What you've done, Bereans. Wow, Brother David, you got a big job, but man, you got a lot of folks helping you. It's so wonderful. And I said all of that this morning, I don't know who I left out, I don't understand all the inner operations of your church that's now my church and still do a long ways away and be with you every morning right yonder. I said all this to say thank you. Thank you, Tricia. Thank you, Sandy. Thank you, Chuck Cody. Thank you, Brian. Thank you, Bill Gann. We appreciate you so much. Whoever else, I'm leaving out somebody. God bless you. Who am I leaving out to have a part in this? I don't mean to leave out anybody, and that's a danger when you're calling names, but I'm including everybody when I say thank you, Bereans. Your son, David, he helped out some with this stuff he did. Thank you, David. That day, way over here. Sitting at the corner so he can make a quick getaway if I step on his toes. That's not this kind of message, is it? I'm leaving. Let me close if I can. Preachers wouldn't make very good pilots. We have difficulties finding the airport and landing. But let me try to land. We all know from our common knowledge you can place a piece of steel in the water and it'll just sink right to the bottom. A little piece of steel or a big piece of steel. A hunk of steel or a sheet of steel, you can place it in the water and it just sinks to the bottom. But, Bereans, you let your Newport News shipbuilding folks let them take those same pieces of steel. Brother Andrew, when they put the last weld in and pop that last rivet and they push that steel into the water it floats. And left alone by myself I likely will sink and fail my God but attach to you, Brother Nathan. Hallelujah. You brothers at Nathan live. You, Brother Nathan. You were rich. Glory. Get this people. Get the power of this. Riveted to you. Riveted to you here in this sanctuary. Welded to you down there in the cyberspace sanctuary. Joined together in love and fellowship. I can float. I can succeed in my Christian journey. I can finish the race with joy. So can all of you. Hallelujah. Ezekiel, tell my people their temple's gold but I'll be a little sanctuary to them in the countries where they've been scattered. And so it is for us today that God is our sanctuary and our refuge our safe haven, no doubt. And for those of us who have lost our physical sanctuaries because of our belief God has provided for us in this house a sanctuary, a place to worship and you in this house have provided for us out yonder in cyberspace a little sanctuary in which to worship. A place where we can find fellowship and companionship. A place where we can love and be loved. Thank God for all of you who have handed this. Thank you. You're appreciated. Thank you. Thank you, Bereans. Thank you, Brother David. Thank you. I love all of you. All of you here in this sanctuary and all of you out there in cyberspace. Thank you for loving, babysitting me, taking us in and letting us find courage and strength in your company. Thank you. Thank you, Father. Thank you for all you've provided for us through these people here. Thank you, Lord. You repay them, Father, for all they've done. Undergird them in a great way and make them strong and stable for you. Get them up when they're down. Put your hand around their necks when they're sorrowful. Be everything to them they ought to be. When they're weary and worn and life is getting down, create a little sanctuary around them and let them feel your presence in some kind of supernatural way. Oh, God, we bless this church. Bless its pastor. Bless everyone that has anything to do here. We pray this morning that they will know that they're doing your work and that they will know that they're loved, that they're appreciated for what they've done. Thank you, Father, Lord. And thank you for what you've done for all of us through this Berea Bible Church. We love you. Take our feeble words from these lips of clay. Oh, God, somehow let them live in the hearts and minds of these people. Don't let them go out of these doors and cut off their computers and just forget what we've said. But let these words live in their souls, Father, and come Tuesdays and Wednesdays and Thursdays and let them know exactly what we talked about and what we said. Let them feel good in their souls for what they have done for us. By your hand, in Jesus' name we pray. I'll chase my destiny For I know the winds of your will Will set my spirit free God is saying, God to stay Faith is saying, sail away I know there's a fear on the shore But freedom is worth dying for Liberation comes to those who give And sail with you I'm going, you are coming with me I'll be what you meant me to be I know the risk is real But I wanna feel the freedom of the sea God is saying, God to stay But I'm taking up the anchor God is saying, sail away And I'm heading for the peak I know there's a fear on the shore But freedom is worth dying for Liberation comes to those who give And sail with you I'm going, you are coming with me I'll be what you meant me to be I know the risk is real But I wanna feel the freedom of the sea The freedom of the sea Of the sea Feel the freedom of the sea Of the sea