Romans 1

Brother Jeremy said Roger is going to preach. I think the answer is Roger was going to preach. Brother Randy, when I heard you were in the back, I'm not sure what all has changed.

If you want to say anything, you can say it. If you want to say how can we pray for you, I know we've already prayed, but it's good to have you here. How far did you drive to get here? From Ohio? Thursday night and drove almost straight through.

Well, we have a lot of talking to do. This is amazing. This is an answer to prayer, many prayers.

Wow. Can we pray for you all right now? You, your family, Cody, let's stand. Lord, we stand in your presence.

This is overwhelming. God, I don't know what to say except to praise you, Lord. Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.

Father Randy O'Brien is here in this building with us this morning. Of all the people, I would not have expected to be here. He's at the top of the list, Lord, and I don't I don't know what to do with this except to say thank you, Lord.

The Lord, we ask you in a mighty way to come and minister to him as he's here among us, minister to his family. Lord, I just pray for Carrie. I pray for Chrissy.

I pray for Charity. I pray for Cody. I pray for Chloe, Caroline and the younger ones, Lord, just each one of them.

You know them all by name. I pray that you would pour out your blessing upon them, pour out your grace. We've heard about the grace already this morning, Lord, and we need your grace.

And yet somehow you've given us grace. And Lord, I don't know what to do with the rest of the time here this morning. You deserve all of our praise.

Lord, we open your word again. Do we look into it again? Father, I I just leave that in your hands. But Lord, we just we owe you all our thanks and all our praise and we just commit this time into your hands in Jesus name.

Amen. We can be seated. It's been quite a week.

I didn't expect it to finish out like this. It started out down in Louisiana. We actually had a good trip down there.

We were. Had a heart stopping moment. A week ago Monday when a girl fell off the roof, Leandra, she was on our crew.

I was the oldest one there, felt responsible for her. And 18 foot Eve, she slid down. We were trying to get off.

A rainstorm had come up, but on the way down, she slipped and slid and didn't stop and went off the eve. And that was I was responsible. I felt responsible and I was responsible.

And, you know, where I just had to think as God watches us as humans make mistakes and how he fills in the gaps for our mistakes. You know, the same God who provided a whale out there in the ocean to keep Jonah from drowning. He provided a blanket of mud six inches deep that covered the lower third of Louisiana that was there to cushion her fall and keep her from getting hurt a lot worse.

That's the God we serve. He provided a chaplain and his wife to be there at the time that she fell. The chaplain's wife had medical training so she could be there and keep her still until the paramedics arrived.

He provided the paramedics were only five minutes away. So when 911 was called, they were there almost immediately. And I'll tell you what I was thinking for this morning.

I was thinking if something's changed here this morning, I'm willing to change it up. But I was planning to say, look, I'm going to preach a short sermon and then we're just going to open it up. And what did you all learn this past week? Some of you were down in Louisiana.

Some of you, at least one, went to the deacon seminar. Some of you are preparing to go to Romania. One of you has, I guess.

Maybe you learned something from this morning's message. Maybe somebody went to that egg prayer meeting back up there on Highway 34. Did anybody make it from here? You made it? Good.

OK. How was it? You say 600 people were there Tuesday praying for revival. Oh, they said it was nonreligious.

Interesting. Jesus was preached. Wow.

Praise the Lord. Well, you know what? I think this was I I've heard various people confirm I heard, you know, crop failure, certain crops in this area, maybe the first time in history. And so, wow, what a way to respond to crop failure.

Have a prayer meeting. And so anyway, that was my plan. Again, I'm open to God's spirit moving.

God's definitely God is doing something here that I'm not expecting. I wasn't expecting this to happen. I there's a lot of unexpected here this morning.

We had our phone team, our phone team leader, our leader back in crew leader back in in Louisiana, his Ralph Burkholder. He told me, well, I've got a driver on the road and he's going to be out there in Oregon. Well, I didn't expect to see him when he was out here in Oregon.

But lo and behold, he shows up here. So it's good to have you here, Danny. Danny Champ.

Is that right? OK. Very good to have you here. So a number of us know Ralph.

It's good to have you here. So we want to open it up. I think, you know, we've if you all like me, I'm in shock this morning.

But as we are dealing with this shock, what if we would do this, at least open up our Bibles and look at the scriptures that we are going to read, because this is about God, this whatever God is doing here, he deserves the honor. It's we want him to be the focus of our of our of our gathering. And so let's let's do our best to make him the focus as much as we've got the last week's memories in our mind, as much as we've got the the blessing he's poured out on us this morning.

You have a Bible brother, Andy, back there. We'll get you on. You got one.

Kept it with you all these years. It's new. Good.

Good. All right. Well, we're going to open our Bibles to Romans chapter one.

I was challenged here a few weeks ago. Hey, brother, you should preach through the book of Romans. Well, to be honest, I don't know if I will or not, but we're at least going to open up the Romans chapter one this morning and we're going to read this and we're going to see what God has for us, at least in Romans one.

Now, whether I go on to Romans two next time I preach and Romans three after that, I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen, but we're going to at least read Romans chapter one and see what see what God has for us here. So let's go ahead and read.

Let's just let God speak to us and see what he see what we can learn from this. Romans chapter one, verse one, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which he has promised to for by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, which was made in the seed of David, according to the flesh and declared to be the son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead, by whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among the nations for his name, among whom also, among whom are ye also the called of Christ of Jesus Christ to all that be in Rome, beloved of God called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God, our father in the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

For God is my witness whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his son, that without ceasing, I made mention of you always in my prayers, making request if by any means now at length, I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you. For I long to see you that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift to the end that you may be established. That is that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith of you both and me.

Now, I would not have you ignorant brethren that oftentimes I purpose to come unto you, but was let hitherto that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. I am a debtor both to the Greeks and the barbarians, both to the wise and the unwise. So much as is in me now, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are in Rome also.

So let's all say verse 16 together. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith that is, as it is written, the just shall live by faith for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness, because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it unto them.

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power in Godhead. So they are without excuse, because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imagination and their foolish heart was dark and professing themselves to be wise. They became as fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made into made like into corruptible man and to birds and four footed beasts and creeping things.

Wherefore, God also gave them up to uncleanness through the loss of their own heart to dishonor their own bodies between themselves, who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature more than the creator who was blessed forever. Amen. For this cause, God gave them up into vile affections for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature.

And likewise, also the men leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust one toward another men with men working that which is unseemly and receiving in themselves the recompense of their error, which was meat. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient. Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, to be deceit, malignity, whispers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents without understanding covenant breakers, without natural affliction, implacable and merciful, who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

That's quite a list of what kind of wickedness is in the heart of man. Jeremiah 17.9 says, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? And if I were to draw up here, everybody would recognize that universally as a symbol of the heart of man, full of sin.

And Jesus talked about how wicked the heart of man is in Matthew chapter 15. He says, out of the heart of man comes all these things. You know, the fornications and the uncleanness and idolatries.

Maybe I'll just read a verse here. But do we realize that? What does it mean to have this wicked heart? First of all, the scribes come to him and says, why do your disciples do these things? You know, they eat with unwashed hands, Jesus. That's not what defiles them.

It's not what's going in to this person. That's defiling, but it's rather what's going out. This is the source of evil.

And and that's what we need to realize is the source of evil comes right from within the human heart. Romans eight calls it the flesh. But how wicked is this? Jesus said here, Matthew chapter 15.

He said, but he answered, but those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart and they defile a man for out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands defileth not a man. So if it's true that this heart that you all have and this is not this thing pumping blood down here, we're talking about your mind and your affections.

That's your heart. It's from that that comes evil. And that's every one of us here.

We are evil. We have evil hearts. The heart is deceitful.

Is there therefore any cure? Is there any hope for anybody in this building right now? If the very heart in your being is full of that evil, we've heard of godly people. Is there even such a thing as a godly person? If the heart is evil, we've heard Keith Daniels now passed away, but he said the godliest of the godly. And he say, there must be a godly person somewhere.

We hear of a godly young person growing up and then meet a godly young man meets a godly young woman. We use these terms and then they create a godly family. Is that a myth or is godliness possible? The answer is it is possible because the word we already heard this morning is the grace of God that can come and surround this heart and it can keep growing and the grace of God can keep and as this person humbles themselves, the grace of God will cover that heart and cover that heart and will keep growing and the grace of God will keep coming into that person as he continues to humble himself.

It is the only hope. Without the grace of God, we are all absolutely lost. This heart will destroy us and even a person who has the grace of God covering their evil heart and blocking it and that godly young man, that godly young woman who meet each other, that godly preacher who you mentioned Howard Hammer, the Hammer revivals.

Preacher went powerfully. God used him powerfully. Many souls came to him.

It came to God because of his preaching and he fell away and died with his mistress in Mexico, suicide I believe it was. A powerful gospel preacher, Howard Hammer. Templeton, Billy Graham's companion, they preached together in these great temple revivals.

Charles Templeton started questioning, is God real? And he fell away. This grace somehow got penetrated. Maybe it was pride.

Maybe it was pain. Maybe it was success that went to his head. Whatever it was, it was penetrated.

Just like David, a man after God's own heart. How did David have a heart that was after God's heart? It was because of this grace that was around him. But there came a day when David's grace was penetrated and this filth started flowing out in that affair with Bathsheba.

And thankfully, he did humble himself. He came back and he filled in that grace once again. There were consequences, but he once again was a man filled with grace.

And that's the message of the gospel. Jesus is inviting us to come. Those of us with evil heart, the heart is deceitful.

That's a universal principle. And yet here we have the ability because of the grace of God that will come and will encircle that. There is actually righteousness available to me.

Put on the righteousness of God. Clothe yourself with humility. That's the invitation that we have today.

Humble ourselves. The fear of God. Deny selfishness.

What is the gospel? It's to deny worldliness, to deny selfishness. What's a little child? Abe preached a little sermon to the children. What are they saying when they bow the knee to the Lord Jesus? I'm going to give up that selfishness.

I'm going to let the grace of God take the place and no longer make decisions based on my own natural selfishness. But I'm going to I'm going to give I'm going to make decisions, you know, based on what God wants me to do. I'm going to be part of his kingdom.

What's the difference between a selfish person and an unselfish person? Is the unselfish person a person who doesn't have selfishness in his heart? No, an unselfish person is one who has bowed the knee of the Lord Jesus because he's bowed the knee of the Lord Jesus. He makes more and more and more unselfish decisions, even though he still has that same heart that wants his own way. He's saying no, no, no to himself.

And yes, yes, yes to God. And you know what? It's just as possible for him to go around, turn the other way and say no to God at some point. And yes to his own selfishness again.

So Romans chapter one. It's there's so much here, you know, that we could look at. Verse three talks about the grace and apostles apostleship that we have.

Verse nine, making mention in our prayers. How powerful it is to make mention of somebody in our prayers. You want an object lesson, making mention in our prayers over and over again.

How many times has Randy O'Brien's name been up here on the board making mention? That's all. That's that's verse nine. It's just one mention.

Is it powerful? Does it change lives when you make mention of somebody? That doesn't sound very that doesn't sound very powerful just that. Well, we mentioned him a week ago. Why mention him again? What difference is it going to make? Do you believe God when he said be like that widow come again and again and again making mention? It does make a difference.

There's a prayer list that somebody asked me to to write a little article for. And so I just want to read it. We're told in James 516 that fervent prayers are prayers that avail much with God.

But what exactly is a fervent prayer? Is it a prayer that's high in volume? Is it a prayer that's high in emotional intensity? Is it a prayer about a need that I care personally about? I suppose a fervent prayer could include all of the above. However, God, Jesus gives a valuable clue about fervent praying, praying in the parable of the widow and the judge in Luke 18. Here, Jesus seems to imply that one of the most important ingredients in fervency is persistence, the ability and the willingness to keep asking for the same thing over and over again.

Do you think that persistent praying needs to degenerate into vain repetition that Jesus warns us about in Matthew six? To keep that from happening, Jesus recommends a simple device, a closet door. But thou when thou prayest, enter into thy closet. When thou shut the door, pray.

When we get all alone to pray, it greatly reduces the risk. We're doing it to be seen of men. There are times when persistent prayers do not feel very fervent.

Reading down over a prayer list often does not seem very spiritual. Yet I take comfort in the words the apostle Paul used in mentioning in describing his prayer life. Three different times in three different letters, he simply says he is making mention of the recipients in his prayers, making mention.

Paul didn't say he spent hours praying for each church every day. His prayer list was far light, was likely far too long to do that. So instead he just made mention of them.

The church at Ephesus, the church at Thessalonica, his friend Philemon making mention one after the other, day after day, over and over again with the closet closed, with the closet door closed. Persistence, fervency. And the result, his father, secret rewarded him openly by the grace of God.

I am what I am and his grace, which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all. Yet not I, but the grace of God, which was with me. He would like to reward us to show we give him the opportunity.

Making mention, you know, the rest of the chapter, Paul goes on, describe the righteousness of God. And you know, when Paul describes God's, the gospel, a key part of it is God's righteousness, man's unrighteousness. And you could read down through that list in Romans chapter one.

We already read it, but there was, it talks about people who do these things. They're without excuse creations all around them, screaming at them, telling them what the right and what right, what right is, what wrong is, what God is, who Jesus, and maybe not who Jesus is until a preacher comes. But at least they know who God is.

The law is written on their heart, but they've traded truth for a lie. And when they did that, what happened? God gave them up to all kinds of uncleanness. Pharaoh hardened his own heart.

And then God hardened his heart for him. And the Romans two verse two, that's next chapter. God's judgment is based on truth.

And that's the, that's the, the testimony that we can rely on. When God judges us, it is based on truth. When the wrath of God is revealed, it is something that it's going to be real.

It's going to be right. It's going to be light shining into the darkness and the rightness will shine through people today. They rail against God for his judgment.

They rail against God saying, how can God destroy somebody in hell? How can God judge the world, kill all those people in the flood? Noah was the only man saved along with his family. How can God do that? All those innocent babies that died, God's judgment is based on truth. We can rely on that.

God's wrath is part of his righteousness. God's judgment is part of who God is. The wrath that's coming is going to be fearsome.

It's going to be real. It's that storm we went through. We saw the effects of it down there.

Ida, southern Louisiana, sheet metal ripped off, shingles ripped off, houses destroyed one after the other. It, it's nothing compared to the flood that happened. And the flood is nothing compared to the fire that's coming to this world.

One of the women that we ministered to, she was in this little single wide trailer and Ralph took us out there. He was shaking his head. He said, I'm not sure what we're doing out here.

This place isn't worth fixing, but a little single wide trailer, the metal was ripped off of it, left some holes in there, at least at certain places. She had tried to tarp it, but it was still leaking. And he says, well, there's water damage in there, but the place is just, it was a wreck before the storm.

But he said, let's try to do what we can. It's all she has. We went out there and met her.

Poor lady. She was saying, Hey, you know, I'm having seizures. Her nephew, 15 year old nephew was there trying to minister to her.

But she, she said, I have cancer and it seemed to be a terminal cancer. And she was crying. It was, but we, we said, well, let's do what we can.

And we started working and she was so grateful, so grateful for what we were doing, tearing out insulation, stepping through holes in the floor, making new holes, looked up into the insulation and you know, there's plastic under the insulation where we're going to be ripping it off. And there's an 18 inch snake crawling around up there and eventually ended up in the wheelbarrow. And anyway, just, just a sad situation.

We ended up tarping the roof for just to keep the, keep things from getting more wet than they already were. But I just had to wonder, I wonder what she knows about God. And so I didn't know.

I mean, she's terminal. She, she needs to, you know, she needs to know that there is hope there is as, as, as desperate as her situation is, we need to let her know about Jesus at least a little bit. So I struck up a little conversation with her.

Well, come to find out she didn't know about Jesus. She says, you know, four years ago I was living on the streets. I had a horrible life and she had tattoos there.

She was, you know, that was, that was part of who she was. She says, you know, you look at this and, but she says, four years ago, I turned around. She says, I gave my life to God.

She said, I, I'm just so grateful for, for God for saving me. She said, I think she had grown up maybe with some knowledge of God, but she had left it all, went out and lived a rough life for, for many years. But four years ago, she turned around and three years ago, she was diagnosed with cancer, terminal cancer.

She was given one year to live. And she went through that one year and she's been now two more years. She says, I still have cancer, but I got two more years that I wasn't expecting.

She says, I'm going for another year. And she was just praising the Lord. She was so thankful for what we were doing.

She was so thankful for, for God, for saving her. She said, please pray for my, my nephew. His name was Caden.

Her name was Desiree. And she says, you know, you just don't know how much it means for you to do this, but she says, you know, even more than that, even more than you fix in my house. What I love is when people tell me they prayed for me.

She says, I'd rather, I'd rather have somebody pray for me than give me a hundred dollars. And by the looks of things, she could use a hundred dollars, but she said, I'd rather have somebody pray for me than that. Just making mention over and over again.

That's what was more powerful to her than anything. And I walked away from that conversation inspired by this woman. I, when we walked up to that building, I was, you know, nothing but sympathy for her and what was going on.

But I walked away saying, she is a blessed woman. You know, of all the people down there in Louisiana, there's a lot of hurting people. She's a blessed woman, dying of cancer, maybe another year to live.

Not much. I don't know what kind of family she had outside of her nephew there. Didn't look like she had a lot, but she was rejoicing in the Lord.

Nothing when it comes to possessions, but she was rejoicing because four years ago, she had, she was granted the gift of repentance. We're going to pray. And then we're going to open it up.

This is for anybody. If you have something you want to pray about, if you want to testify, if you want to say what God's done in your heart this past week, this morning, we'd love to hear it. Let's pray.

God, I thank you for your grace. I thank you for your love. I thank you, Lord, that you are here.

I thank you for your mercy. I thank you that even though the heart is so deceitful and desperately wicked and all these evil things come out of it, I thank you, Lord, that you have extended grace to us. Mercy, compassion, Lord, as we open it up, I pray God that our voices and our hearts would ring with your praises for what you are doing.

I pray for everyone that's here. I pray for all the people that are home from Louisiana. I pray for Carl and Yvonne.

They're not here, but bless them where they are. I pray for Amanda as she gets ready to go to Romania. I pray for Danny as he's here, that his time here would be a blessing, other visitors as well from near or far.

Lord, bless them, and especially I pray for Randy. Lord, I pray that this drive that he made from Ohio would be a blessing. It would be worth every mile he drove, Lord.

So, Lord, please come by your spirit and minister to us. In Jesus' name, amen. Let me just open it up.

Who has something they'd like to share? That includes every one of you visitors, men or women, boys or girls, young people. If you're here for the first time, here for whatever reason, tell us what God's doing in your heart. Amen.

Only by the grace of God, we have so much and we've been given so much. And that's right. I mean, that's changing, life-changing.

I recommend to anybody who, if you have a chance to go help on a rapid response committee crew like that, go. It'll change the people you're ministering to. Hopefully they're grateful people, and most of them were.

I don't know of any exceptions to that. But even if they're not grateful, even if they're kind of bitter at life because of what has been dealt to them over this storm, it'll change you. It'll change you to see this is the way so many people live.

And the first day we're there, a woman come up to us and she's got two grown children, but she was just crying. She says, after this storm, I called my children. No, they won't take me in.

And finally she left and went to another town and found somebody that she could stay with. And I mean, this was life, the broken family before the storm hit. And then the storm hits and she just has nowhere to turn.

It's just, you know, and this was just, yeah, heartbreaking. And so for us to be there and give them a meal and show them a little bit of love is, it's changing. Somebody else.

There's more of you that were there. Anything else that you learned this week? Anything you want to share? Anything you want to praise God for? Amen. Amen.

What time did you get here? Trevor, what time was it? Yeah. You weren't here for the whole, you weren't here at the beginning. I would have 11 o'clock.

My wife turned around and says, Randy's back there. I thought she's seeing some things. Amen.

Thank you, Trevor. Anyone else? Amen. Oh, if we're not in grace, will I meet you today? Amen.

Thank you, Greta. Amen. And God bless you.

You had a great fellowship. I haven't seen them probably over a year. They're part of the church that we're supposed to be taking.

And it was a great fellowship. The whole office was actually a team. We were just completely blown away.

I mean, we partied up in front of God in prayer and all that, but it was, the strategy of the devil was to break what he was praying for. Those people out there have no idea the power of Christ. Us people in here and all the other fellows all over, all over the nation don't get it.

He calls us to be one. There's something you firmly believe in to help us get across the division. Unless it's Christ.

Thank you, brother. Who else? Amen. I don't know how many of you heard that in the back, but she's talking about just the hopelessness and how do they ever go on and how blessed we are to have what we have.

All the people that we were ministering to there in Louisiana. Anyone else? And by the way, I'll make this available. If anybody would like, or would be willing, I'll put it that way.

Not would you like to, but if you'd be willing to speak into this when you give a testimony, that would be a good thing because look at the difference if I talk over here and if I talk right now, you can hear me a lot better. So I don't even have to raise my voice. So anyway, if somebody wants it, you're willing to talk into it, that would be appreciated.

Who else? Yes. So is this working better? I was thinking about the power of prayer they're talking about and I had a really, really bad day on, I think it was Wednesday. I was late for everything and caused lots of people trials and I wrote my friend that evening while I was putting him to bed.

I was like, this was not a good day. And the next morning, I had an amazing morning with school and this friend has prayed for me before and though she has eight children and doesn't have much time to write, the Lord must have heard her prayers for me because I haven't had a school morning like that since last year probably. So I'm very thankful and the power of prayer is really real.

I also appreciated the week. Timothy and Becky and you mentioned it, but a lot of these people were elderly and you'd ask them, have you been here all your life? Yeah, I've been here all my life, never seen anything like this. And a lot of the people that we helped were lower income.

And so a lot of them didn't have the funds to be able to clear their yard. One of the chaplains said that people are taking the opportunity to rip these people off. They told one story of some lady had told them that they had gotten offered to clean their yard for $15,000.

And then all of a sudden, she's like, wow, you guys are doing it for free. And just to be able to help these people who live all their lives and over one day, their house is destroyed, all their belongings, molds growing everywhere. You can't even walk inside your house without a mask or for very long.

And just being able to come in there and help them and see the gratitude on their face when you leave was a blessing. So yeah. Who else? Yeah, the week was really good.

It was really a blessing to be able to help people in the way that we were. It was really hard to see Leandra fall off like that. But it was also to see the way that God used that.

The lady that we were helping at the time was very affected by that. And it really, it was amazing because we all gathered around and prayed while she was in the hospital, going to the hospital. And it was, it was amazing because then he did a miracle and she wasn't as hurt as we were expecting her to be.

And that lady got to see that. And that was, we serve a powerful God. I guess after Leandra had gone to the hospital, she did call going really, really bad.

One thing after another, I've been off her route and this was just devastating for her. So to have Leandra call her and say, I'm okay. Or relatively okay.

It was a big blessing. So yeah, we don't understand God's ways, but somehow he picks up the pieces and makes something beautiful out of tragedy over and over again. Who else? The last couple of weeks have been really busy with work for me.

And usually when things get busy, things also get very stressful. But the beginning of this week was going like the last couple had been, had been very, very stressful. And Jeremy just sent me a text.

I think it was Wednesday or Thursday. I can't remember now. And just encouraged me to trust God.

And I remember exactly what he said, but I was thankful for that. And I guess I realized that I wasn't, wasn't trusting God. I wasn't letting him run my life.

The story of Vanya talks about how we say we want to let God write the beginning and the end of our life. But are we willing to let God write the chapters in between? Are we willing to let God direct our path every step of the way, even in mundane things like everyday work? When things get stressful, are we willing to trust him? And sometimes life can get stressful. It's my job.

I tend to work with clients that aren't always, especially when things get busy, things get very stressful. But I guess I was remembering back when I was in Iraq and some of the traveling I did, and I remember clearly God directing my path and opening and closing doors. And I guess I was reminded that if God can do it there, he can do it here too.

He can do it in everyday things. He can open and close doors. And if this is where God wants me, if this is what God wants me to be doing, if God wants me to be working with these people or with these companies that aren't fun to work with sometimes, that's okay because that's his plan.

Let him move the chess pieces and let him orchestrate his plan. So yeah, that's all I have. Six cars over there.

Anyway, we got home and I was planning to preach this morning, still had to prepare, but somehow it just felt like, you know what? If those people aren't stressed out back in Louisiana, I don't need to be stressed out. God's got this. We'll be fine.

And if I get up here half prepared, it'll still work out. I don't know how much I need this, but I'll hold it. I was blessed in my personal devotions.

I recently started, well, last week I started the book of Romans and in Romans chapter two, something stood out to me. I mean, this has just been deep. I have been going through the Old Testament, different books, and it's interesting and it's good history that I should know about the kings and the prophets and stuff.

But I was like, you know, I need to... Anyway, so I started the book of Romans and in chapter two, something that stood out to me, I'll just read four verses here. Chapter two, verse 20, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which has the form of knowledge and of truth in the law. Thou, therefore, which teach us another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou that preachest, a man should not steal.

Dost thou steal? Thou that sayest, a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonest thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written. And it just made me think in my personal life, like when I talk to my coworkers on the road, I mean, on the phone and anybody in general. And I say that I believe these things, that this is what we believe, my church or me.

And in my personal life, if I'm not living to the same standard what I'm communicating to them, how I believe, whether they find out about that or not, it's still a question of integrity. And it's dishonoring to God. So it was a challenge for me.

And yeah, I just want to share that. So is it okay? Well, anyways, as far as it goes, I am very blessed to be having another baby. And I feel like it's an answer to prayer.

But I've also been dealing with a lot of fear of what's going to happen after the baby. And so it's easy to get into that. And so I was dealing with that a little bit this week.

And then I had realized listening to music, and especially scripture music, that was a lot more peaceful than thinking about it. And it had just struck in my head while I was listening to Psalm 119 or whatever, that well, maybe this in a strange way is a way to be able to draw closer and be able to trust God more and how much of a gift that is. And then I think there ended up being that verse, like, it's good for me that I've been afflicted, that I might learn thy law.

And so yeah, I guess that's a prayer request, a testimony and a praise. So yeah. But I mean, I'm very blessed to have all my children.

Well, Roger asked me to step in to that Deacon Seminar, because he was going to go on Thursday. But then he went to Louisiana. So I went there and thought I'd just share some of the things that was shared there.

Gary Miller was there. And honestly, in the past, I've always been a little suspicious of Gary Miller because of his books. You see all these books about money and investing, it feels like.

And I always thought maybe he was making... I never read his books, but I made an assumption. Maybe he kind of was putting a real nice Anabaptist curve on why you can invest and have all this money. But I was actually very blessed by the things he shared.

He brought up that wherever is somebody who's poor, do they... He said, somebody that's poor versus somebody who's rich, which one in the Bible doesn't make out so well? And he clearly showed that poor people, even though you're poor, you can make out spiritually fine. But rich people, on the other hand, have a much harder time at making out spiritually. And he taught on stewards versus ownership and the difference of a steward being somebody who God has entrusted.

And he said, we really need to teach this in our churches, that we lose that mentality that these things are just God's. And my job is to put them in the right places, like any steward would, but not to think of them as my own. And he said, yet we so quickly forget that and think of the things in our wallet and the things we own as ours.

And he talked about the generation, his generation had seen the Great Depression, or at least he knew their grandfathers that had seen the Great Depression and how they had heard the stories. But he said, our generation hasn't seen that, hasn't heard those stories anymore. They're disconnected.

They have had so much materialism and so much wealth. And he said, our churches really need... There was definitely an emphasis for these deacons, these ministers that were there. And there were quite a few, I'd say 50.

But I saw several of the ministers, like Leland Zare was there, Leland Krupp was there. A lot of the bishops and ministers were there too. And he was saying that we really need to teach our churches this because our youth are losing grip of what their youth would have heard, the stories and hard times and what it would have taken to earn a dollar and all of that.

He told them, we need to teach our youth that a latte isn't just $5 one time. Times it by how many times you bought that latte and times it by the year and how much money is going out. So yeah, he was talking about, he called it Anabaptist jewelry.

Speaking of the way we decorate our homes and the way we are expensive $50,000 trucks and such, he just said that's Anabaptist jewelry. So I was blessed by his sermons. He gave a sermon also on debt and the biblical perspective.

By the way, you can look these up if you ever want to hear them. And also there was another guy who preached on how to relate to others in counseling and gave some real practical good things. Don't walk in when you're counseling somebody.

People need to feel heard. They feel loved by feeling heard and you need to listen and understand. Even though in the first five minutes you might have all of the conclusions in your mind, if you just blurt that out, they will shut you off.

They gave a lot of good tips on how to stay meek and humble and wait on the Lord for the answer. So I was very blessed by the things at that seminar. Um, I don't feel like I have a lot to share, but I just wanted to say that in the past week I've been watching this documentary on a girl from North Korea and it was just really eye-opening to hear how little they have there.

And it just made me so thankful for all that I have. And I just also want to say I'm very thankful for everyone here. And yeah, I just feel so blessed and very thankful for this time.

Just thank you for this willingness to just listen to what the Lord has. I mean, to just be willing to change things so that the Lord can speak. And yeah, I'm just so thankful for everyone here.

Thank you so much for your influence in my life. I just wanted to share a testimony recently of, um, when I went, when I just went to Pennsylvania a couple weeks ago. Um, I got, I don't know if you'd say stranded, but my flight was canceled and I was stuck in Texas, Texas airport, Texas area overnight.

And, um, through it all was kind of stressful having to find, first of all, find a new flight that got me to the wedding I was going to on time. And then also the hotel getting there for the night and getting back. And anyway, um, there, there was a verse I had found, I don't know, a couple months back that really spoke to me.

It's, um, Psalms 84 11, no good thing. Will he withhold from them that walk uprightly anyway. And so this verse kind of, when I thought about it, I was like, okay, well, if this is true and if it's true all the time, then whatever happens to me, unless I'm really going out of line, some things that happened to me that are out of my control, that it's something that God is in control about that, whatever, whatever the outcome is, it's better or the better thing that happened to me.

Um, anyway, and so this really was true by the time I finally did get to Pennsylvania. Um, basically a day later than when I had planned, I was just like, well, first of all, I couldn't quite believe that I was actually like hovering and getting ready to fly into Pennsylvania because after yet not being sure if I was going to make it or what all. And just, I was just so thankful.

Um, looking back, there was, I was so glad for the experiences that I went through of missing my flight or being canceled and all the things that went into that. And I, I felt like my time spent in Pennsylvania then was, um, it was in a less carnal perspective of everything, just being so grateful and thankful the whole time, um, I was there. Anyway, there was, looking back, I see that that was definitely the best thing that ever could have happened to me on my trip in.

Thank you, Amanda. Which reminds me, she is leaving Wednesday. She will not be here Wednesday evening.

We should have prayer for her as she goes to Romania this week. Going to be gone a month. Come back in time for Bible school.

Lord willing. Everything we do is Lord willing. Anybody else before we close? I just wanted to say that, um, I appreciated what was shared today.

And something that I was encouraged by this week, um, just knowing that God does hear our prayers and he answers us. And we do need to just be persistent and believe. And thinking about the verse that says, ask and you will receive.

I also appreciated, um, uh, what you shared about having his grace surrounding our hearts. Because we can't trust ourselves and we can't trust our own deceitful hearts. We need his grace and power to surround us and give us the grace to walk righteously.

But yeah, just wanted to share that. Okay, well, thank you very much everyone for being here. Thank you for those testimonies.

This is huge. Brother Randy, we need to talk, you said. Right after we pray.

Can we come up here? You want to go outside? We got soft chairs up here. These are new. Like you've got no, you're okay.

Well, please, uh, come on forward right after we pray. I want to, well, I don't want to let this opportunity get away. All right.

What's that? You live here? We do have to talk. I did not know this. Well, I just rolled up.

You just rolled up. Okay. Okay.

Anybody know of a good church? Okay. Well, it's so good to have you here. Yes.

I know all you guys have felt the same thing that I felt, especially those who knew Randy and family. But Randy, when you walked in the door, just praise, all praise to God. Cause you really have been in our prayers and the people who didn't know you know you because they've been praying too.

And their love for you is about the same as the rest of us. I think because where you invest your heart or your prayers or whatever, there's a verse about that where your treasure is. Um, and now when you said you moved here, I just think, um, wow, God, you are so good.

And we're going to just keep on praying for the rest of the O'Briens too. Just the same way. Thank you for that.

Well, I, oh yes, go ahead. Amen. Let's stand.

Oh, let's pray. Lord, we come to you with deep gratefulness in our hearts for bringing us to this place. Lord, we are overwhelmed at your goodness, but we thank you.

And we praise you and we trust you for the future. Lord, we, it's an unknown future, Lord, but you hold it. You've held us in the past and now you've, you're holding us today and we just commit ourselves to you, Lord.

I pray for Amanda as she flies out here on Wednesday, Lord, that you would bless her and lead her, Lord. Lord, I pray for others who are not with us. I pray for Corey.

I pray that you would touch her right now. Lord, I pray for Randy. Thank you that he's here with us.

Lord, just guide us now as we're dismissed. May we go in your fear in Jesus' name. Amen.

You're dismissed.