Sunday Morning Worship Service August 16, 2026 | 11:00am
The August 16, 2026 Sunday morning worship service at Friendship Vallejo, led by Rev. Dr. Justin R. Lester, combined worship, a health & wellness segment, and a sermon that centered on moving from a survival mindset to the abundant life promised by Jesus. Drawing on Malachi 3:13‑18, Pastor Justin contrasted a cynical, self‑focused conversation (verses 13‑15) with the remnant’s turn to God (verses 16‑18), urging the congregation to break cynicism and adopt five "remnant choices": intercessory prayer without audience, speaking truth in love, giving away credit, sharing access with those lacking, and releasing debt without performance. He emphasized the necessity of community accountability, the divine record of faithful deeds (God “leaning in” and writing them in a scroll of remembrance), and the personal identity of believers as God’s “special possession” marked for distinction. The service concluded with an invitation to baptism, recommitment, and church membership, accompanied by congregational prayer, hand‑holding, and praise.
Chapters
Thanks, God.
You deserve the glory and the honor, Lord. As we lift our hands in worship, Lord, we bless your holy name. You deserve the glory Add the honor, Lord, as we lift our hands in worship. Lord, we bless your holy name.
Glory and the honor, Lord, we lift Lord, we lift our hands in worship as we praise your holy name. You deserve the glory and the honor. Lord, we lift our hands in worship as we praise your holy name.
Because, Lord, you are great.
You do miracles so great. There is no one else like you.
There is no one else like you.
There is no one like you. There is no one else like you.
Again, you are great.
You are great. You do miracles so great. There is no one else like you. There is no one else like you. Hallelujah! Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.
At the mention of your name.
Every knee shall bow. Every knee shall bow and tongue proclaim Jesus. Jesus.
We call him Savior and Lord.
You are Savior, you are Lord, and you are God.
Can we lift that up all over the room as we prepare to enter into corporate worship? Say Jesus.
Jesus, Jesus, at the mention of your name, at the mention of your name, every knee shall bow, every knee shall bow, and tongue proclaim Jesus, Jesus, oh Jesus.
You are Savior, you are Lord.
You are Savior, you are Lord. And you are God.
Sing it again. You are Savior.
You are Savior. You are Lord. And you are God.
Can y'all sing that with us? You are Savior.
You are Savior.
You are Lord. And you are God.
Y'all know that from the beginning. You are Savior. Our congregation from the top say, Jesus.
Uh-huh.
At the mention of your name, every knee shall bow.
Every knee shall bow.
Thank you, Lord.
Jesus.
Oh, gee. This is it right here. You are Savior. You are Savior. You are Lord. And you are God. Put the— put your hands together on that. Let's praise our Savior, our Lord, and our God. God bless you, Sister Brittany. Help us go another one higher. It's 50th Sunday. Come on, come on. Get up out of your seat. Get up out of your seat.
Let's move together.
Let's praise together. Let's clap our hands together. We got we got a leader in front of us.
Come on.
Let's be proper stewards over our bodies. Are y'all okay? Y'all can't see. Y'all can't see. Y'all gotta stand up so y'all can see. So y'all can see.
All right, all right.
Let's move together. Here we go.
Great God, great God. Yeah, you are great. Forever, great God, great God. Oh, you are great forever, great God, great God. You are, you are great forever, great God, great God. Oh, you are great. Let's go. Oh, oh, come on. Oh, oh. Mighty God, mighty God, you are great forever. Mighty God, mighty God, you are great forever. Mighty God, mighty, you are, you are great forever. Hey, mighty God, mighty God, everybody say, oh, there's nobody like you, Lord. There's Come on, take it up! Holy God, holy you are. You are great forever. Holy God, holy you are. You are great forever. Holy God, holy you are. You are great. Isn't He great? Holy God, holy You are. Everybody say, oh, we lift Your Name on high and we love Your Name. Oh, faithful God, faithful He's been. Isn't He faithful? Faithful God, faithful You've been. Forever faithful God, faithful you've been. Forever faithful God, faithful you've been. Everybody say oh, we love your love and we magnify your name. Oh, everybody say oh. Everybody say, oh, oh. Do it one more time. We lift your name on high. We exalt your name on high. Oh, everybody say, oh, say, oh, oh. Say God is great. God is great. Put those hands together. Say God is great. God is great. Let's lift the Savior up and say God is great. God is great. Great God. Great God. Great God. Great God. God is. God is great. Great God. Great God. Great God. God is great. God is great. And you won the victory. God is great. God is great. And we claim the victory. God is great. God is great. Great God. Great God. Great God. Great God. Great God. Great God. Great God. Great God. God is great. God is great. He's all powerful. God is great. God is great. And he's marvelous. Say, God is great. Say, great God. Great God. Great God. Great God. Great God. Great God. Great God. Great God. Great God. Great God. He's strong. Powerful. Marvelous. He am I. Great God. Great God. Great God. Great God. Great God. Great God. Great God. Powerful.
Praise God!
Splendid!
Praise God!
Incredible!
Praise God!
Mighty! Praise God!
Strong!
Praise God!
Monstrous!
Praise God!
Great!
Praise God!
Mighty!
Praise God! Holy!
Praise God! Wonderful!
Praise God! Counselor!
Praise God! Mighty God! Mighty God!
Prince of Peace!
Praise God!
Everlasting Father!
Praise God! Sing, God is great! God is great! Yes, say God is great. God is great. Yes, He is. Say God is great. God is great.
Great God.
Great God. Great God. Great God.
God is great. God is great. Hey, come on, we gonna let the band play and that's a workout for the Lord. Come on, hey! We celebrate You, God. You're wonderful. You're mighty. You're strong. You have the strong Name. He is the strong Name. Yes, He is. Say, God is great. God is great. And He's greatly to be praised. God is great. God is great. We lift the Savior up and say, God is great! God is great! Great God! Great God! Great God! God is great! God is great! Great God! Great God! Great God! Great God! Great God! Great God! Great God! Strong tower! Great God! Mighty God! Prince of Peace! Break out! Break out! Break out! Break out!
Break out!
Break out! Break out! Break out! Break out! Break out! Break out! Break out! God is great! God is great! Yes, he is! Say, God is great! God is great! And he's greatly to be praised! Say, God is great! God is great! And he's marvelous in our eyes. Say, God is great. God is great. Let's take it out. Say, oh. Sing, oh. And we lift your name.
Say, oh.
Do it one more time. Say, oh. Hallelujah! We celebrate His name because He's worthy to be praised. Hallelujah! Yes, He's worthy. Give glory and honor to our God. He's worthy to be praised. God, we praise You with everything we have, whether it's with the rolling of my neck, God, With the raising of my hands, with the leaping of my legs, God, I will praise you. We love you, Lord. You're everything to us. We give you praise. We give you worship. You're all the things, God, and we just want to praise your name. Come on, let's worship the King. March in place. March in place. Come on and let's just repeat after me. I will sing praises unto my King, yeah. I will sing praises unto my King, yeah. He is Creator of everything. He is Creator of everything. I will exalt Him, His name adore, yeah. I will exalt Him, His name adore, honor and reverence forevermore. Honor and reverence forevermore. We lift up our hands to our God, to our God, to our God, to our God. To thee, to thee we ascribe glory and honor and wisdom and strength. To our God. Hey! Oh, let's take it high. Praise I will offer to glorify thee. Praise I will offer to glorify thee. We're an army of the Lord. And I'll declare that thy name is holy. And I'll declare that thy name is holy. Be thou exalted above the heavens. Be thou exalted above the heavens. And all thy glory above all the earth. And all thy glory above all the earth. To our God, to our God, to our God, to thee we ascribe, we ascribe glory and honor and wisdom. We lift up our hands to our God, to our God, to our God. To thee we ascribe glory and honor and wisdom and strength, to our God. Come on, lift it up to the King. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. We worship, we worship, adore you, adore you. We declare, we declare, nobody like you, nobody like you. We worship, we worship, adore you, adore you. We declare nobody like you. Nobody like you. We worship, we worship, adore you, adore you. We declare nobody like you. Nobody like you. We worship, we worship, adore you. We declare nobody like you. Nobody like you. We worship, we worship, adore you. Adore you. We declare nobody like you. Nobody like you. We worship, we worship, adore you. Adore you. We declare nobody like You. We worship and adore You. We declare nobody like You. We worship and adore You. We declare nobody like You. Nobody like You. Nobody like You. Come on and tell him nobody like You. Nobody like You. Nobody like You. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. Come on and let's lift the Father. God, you're so good. You're so good to us, Lord. We saw another day and we pray to you, Lord. We lift our hands to our God. To our God, we lift our hands to our God, to our God. And we say, hey, our hands to our God, to our God. We lift our hands in reverence to you, God. Our hands, our hands, our hands. We lift our hands, our hands, our hands. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. No one like you. Nobody like you. I searched all over. Nobody like you. Couldn't find nobody.
Nobody like you.
Look how you love. Nobody like you. Couldn't find nobody. Nobody like you. Nobody, nobody, nobody. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. Everybody bless your name. Praise the Lord our God. Because He's worthy, worthy, worthy, worthy, worthy, worthy. We lift our hands. Come on and lift a joyful noise unto the Lord. Lift His name. We lift our hands. We To the God that we serve, come on and give Him praise. We march and play, army of the Lord, the army of the Lord. Our God, we lift our hands. Our God, our God, we lift our hands. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. Nobody like you.
I will lift my hands.
I will praise the Lord. I will give you worship. I will lift your name. Jehovah Jireh, my provider. Jehovah Nissi, you keep my people. Jehovah Rapha, you are my stronghold. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. I can count the ways that you saw me when I didn't want to be. I didn't want to be counted. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. We give glory to our God! Give God the glory, give God the honor! Thank you, Jesus.
Nobody like him!
Hallelujah!
Put your hands together for Jesus! There's nobody like him!
Hallelujah!
Let's make some noise in this place if you truly believe that there's nobody like him. If it had not been for the Lord on our side, we would not be here today. Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
We declare nobody like you. Say it again.
We worship, adore you. We declare nobody like you.
Tell somebody, say it.
We worship, adore you, Lord. We declare nobody like you.
Say it again.
Nobody like you.
Nobody like you. Nobody like you.
Nobody like you. Nobody like you.
Nobody like you. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. You reached me down from the muck in my life. You saved my soul. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. Nobody like you. We give glory to our God. Hallelujah!
Come on, put your hands together for Jesus! This is the day that the Lord has made, and we choose to rejoice. We choose to be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me. Let us exalt his name together. If you are a grateful soul under the sound of my voice, make some noise in this place and tell the Lord, thank you, Jesus! Thank you, Jesus! For making a way out of no way. Hallelujah! I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. And then the scripture goes on to say, enter his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him and do what? Bless his name. How do we bless his name? By the clapping of our hands.
How do we bless his name?
By the clapping of our hands. By saying hallelujah, thank you, Jesus. How do we bless his name? By leaping for joy. Somebody wish that they could. Somebody wish they had hands to put together. Hallelujah! Well, beloveds, welcome, welcome, welcome to Friendship Vallejo, where our pastor is none other than the Reverend. Dr. Justin R. Lester. Hallelujah! Lady Courtney Lester and Sir Cam Lester. Hallelujah! Thank you, Jesus, for the opportunity to enter the house of worship once more and again. If we have first-time visitors or you're visiting with us on today, go ahead and stand to your feet. All visitors. Yes, yes, welcome to this place. We pray that something is said or done on today that will be life-changing for you on today. Amen. We know that you left your home one way, but when you leave here today, you will leave here changed, and when you get home, it will not be the same. We say that you are welcome to the Holy Ghost headquarters, where we have witnessed healing and peace and joy and restoration. Everything has changed because you have entered this place on today.
Amen.
There is a phone number on the screen. We ask that you text that number, and at the end of service at the connection table, we have a love token for you. Amen. Everybody, let's celebrate our visitors today. Those of you who are worshiping with us online, go ahead and type in where you're worshiping with us from, and then there's someone to connect with you, your brother or your sister. Amen.
Amen.
Well, beloveds, we are all here on purpose for the same purpose. Go ahead and stand to your feet. And if you don't know what that purpose is, you will know momentarily. All right, everybody under the sound of my voice, let's say it all together. We are a community of Christ-led liberators who love Jesus, heal people, serve Vallejo, and build community. Everybody say love. Love.
Heal.
Heal.
Serve.
Serve.
And build.
And build. Because we are that church where everybody's welcome. Nobody is perfect, but anything is possible. Take a moment and fellowship with your loved ones and let them know you're excited to worship with them on today.
Nobody's perfect. Anything's possible. This is a place where everybody's welcome. Nobody's perfect. Anything's possible. You're in the right place. You're in the right place. You're in the right place. You're in the right place. You're in the right place. You're in the right place. You're in the right place. You're in the right place.
Amen.
Amen.
As you take your seats, find somebody around you. Tell them, "I'm glad you're alive." Come on, everybody tell somebody. If you're happy in the Lord, put those blessed hands together all over this building. This is the day the Lord has made, and we make the choice to rejoice and be glad in it. Fred, stand up, man. I gotta stand up. Stand up. I can't. You can't. You can't. Suns out, guns out. Come on.
I can't.
You can't.
Hey, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on. I see you, bro.
I see you. Here it is.
I walked in, I saw the live stream. I said, he said I've been in the gym and y'all gonna know.
Amen. Amen.
I'm so happy to see all of you gathered here this morning. It's good to see you guys and worship with us as we gather together. So I'mma acknowledge the elephant in the room. Bloomberg and CNN and an organization called Arte are here from Europe, and they're telling the story of the work that we've done with technology and the local church. I told you at 9 o'clock, I emailed you guys this as well, to me this is the last Sunday, last time I'm opening our space up to tell this story. So I want to thank all of you who have privileged us to continue to tell the story of the work that God's called us to do, and thank you for trusting me as your leader to talk about this stuff as well. And so thank you again. And so I got to show you guys this though. So I don't— you guys notice around the church there's no picture of my face, my name, ain't no nothing. But I got to show you one thing. I got to show you one thing. So I got excited because my wife and Michelle forced me to do this. I don't talk about myself, but we were on the front page of the New York Times. I got to say, we were, y'all. That's us. And yeah, right? And thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. It's been a whirlwind. I'm grateful for all of you. And, um, like, I tell this story now, like, I built my first website in middle school. My, my father thought it was the dumbest thing ever. And to now be in national publications to talk about the work we're doing in churches. But what got me was not the AI stuff.
tough.
It was you all.
It was—
you all have trusted me to do this work, and I'm so grateful. So grateful. I did not want to cry, and then I just keep thinking, like, I'm sorry, this paper came out on the day I buried my mom. I just think like what she would have thought. So I'm just, I'm grateful. I did not mean to cry today. I'm so sorry.
I didn't mean to cry.
So God bless you guys.
Yeah, that's right.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Yeah. So I wanted to share that with you guys today and Thank you to our team. And I just really intentionally, I constantly talk about Courtney and Camden, but we, I, they're my why. And the reason why we do this work, we try, like even when CNN originally reached out, my first response was absolutely not, 'cause I don't wanna be out there. And it was Courtney and Camden that said, but Jesus told us to go to the uttermost parts of the world. And what if there are people that will never meet Jesus until you as a technologist get out there and tell their story of how Jesus can be in that space too? And so all of this stuff you guys see, some of the chances I've taken are because of my why, which is my wife and my son. And so thank all of you so very much. Thanks for trusting me in this season. We're not done. We got a lot more to do. But I just wanted to do that. And, and so one of the ways we do this work, and one of the ways we engage in this work, is I believe that technique is a form of technology. And so, what we just did on the stage— can we give it up for all the seniors who've been working out on the stage?
Amen.
So, our techniques are a form of technology, and Black technique has been. So, whether that's call and response, responsive reading, it's a form of technology, and our techniques are. And so, working out on stage was really dope today. And one of the other things I wanted to emphasize on this Health and Wellness Sunday, was cooking and healthy eating. So you guys know one of my nicknames is Chef Homeboy RD, and so, and so today, would you guys help me welcome Linda Bostic to the stage? And we're gonna talk through some meal prep, 'cause I don't just wanna tell you to eat healthy, we wanna teach you how to do it too. So Sister Linda, tell us a little bit about what we're gonna see and what we're gonna do, and then what we'll go through today.
We're gonna take you in a day Your day, on how to start your day and how to prepare for it, because when we prepare for it, we usually follow what we're supposed to follow. And I'm not telling you guys anything new, I'm just reminding you. And some of you, I have— I've called and asked questions, and you gave me tips on what to do and what you do. So we're going into a day, and some of it is the working day, you know, because a lot of times, you know, we, we try to eat right and we're working and stuff, we may grab something, the wrong thing, at the end of the day because we did not eat. So we're just going to go through that, Pastor.
Let's go through it. Okay, let's do it. So what do we have here? Tell me what's going on. Yeah.
Okay, so we're going to start the morning. Um, you know, when you do meal prep, you can prep Sunday night. Normally when you work, you prep on Sunday night. You could prep a few things that you can grab and put in your little lunch bag and take to work and eat during the day, and maybe come home and fix a meal that that the family can eat or have that prepped as well. So, you know, we always start our day with our multivitamins. I don't know what you take. And then I know one thing a lot of people like to do is that apple cider. That's a little bitter.
The Mother.
You have to get the one that says the Mother. And they even sell the tablets for those of you who do like to do the apple cider. And then, you know, we got to prep our water because, you know, So, a lot of us forget to drink water, or sometimes we have jobs where we don't.
So, you're suggesting we prepare our water. So, how much water should or do you suggest we be drinking in a day?
At least a gallon or something, right?
Okay.
But a lot of times that's not feasible because then you got to go to the bathroom.
Oh, no, you can, because you can drink a gallon of coffee, and people be drinking a gallon of Crown Royal on Fridays. They can show enough to— don't do it.
Don't do it.
They can show enough to drink a gallon of coffee.
Yeah. So, the Pure Life, I really like that. A friend of mine was in chemo, and she told me, she said, this is the only water that I could really drink, and it tastes good, actually.
Okay.
You don't know how water tastes, but sometimes if you're not drinking it, it really has some kind of taste that you don't like. So, Pure Life is a good one. I'm not giving out any brands, but I'm just giving suggestions. And then, a lot of my friends, we like to do the spa water. So, you can mix together some mint in your water that you're carrying during the day, cucumbers, and lemon. And I found this. They have these on Amazon, some better ones, but this reminds you to drink your water.
Oh, I love it.
So, it has the time.
I love it.
Turn around.
9:00 AM, 11:00.
Okay. So, kind of keeps you paced, but they have some really nice ones on Amazon.
So, you're suggesting we start off protein, Start off with our vitamins, start off with a good amount of water in the morning.
Awesome.
Awesome.
Just make sure you have your water ready.
Okay.
Okay. And then like on Sunday night, what I did was these egg bites. And you can put those in a muffin pan. You know how you scramble your eggs? You can mix up when you're doing your mix with the eggs and the cream and you can put some veggies and cheese and stuff. Spray a muffin pan and fill it up with that mixture and bake it. And these are good grab-and-go. You know, you could sprinkle bacon bits or whatever sometimes, you know, if you want to treat yourself.
Awesome.
But you got that. So you have your water, you have your breakfast, and then oatmeal. At work, we used to have the packets. You could have your packets, but these go good too. You could do these in the microwave at work. And if you don't eat like oatmeal, what I learned You want to know a good trick with your oatmeal? Put applesauce in it. Put some applesauce in it. You can put some blueberries in it. Healthy, and you know it's good for cholesterol.
Got it.
Okay.
So our breakfast should consist of— so you suggested here preparing to eat egg bites, preparing our water in the morning. We have oatmeal, apple cider vinegar. Simple to the point.
I love that.
I love that.
And bougie water because you got mint and cucumber.
Yeah, yeah.
I tell Courtney, just get Give me the toilet water. It's water, but I'll take the bougie water too.
We'll come back to the bougie water in a minute.
Awesome. So what about lunch? So then I see you got a lot of stuff here for lunch. So meal prepping for lunch.
I see you got some healthy— Yeah, you meal prep. We made a spinach salad. I had some spinach in here, some cucumbers, and some sweet tomatoes. And you could have your little salad dressing or whatever you like. We have that. And you could also Have your fruit and take that for lunch. And you can maybe, if you want some protein, a lot of people like to take, you know, a turkey sandwich or something. You can make, you know, make your sandwiches and stuff.
Now, what is this chicken? Because I'm seeing this is— I want to cook it right now. So what did you do to this chicken?
So I took some chicken breast and I put some olive oil, or you could use avocado oil. I chopped up some bell peppers, some sweet peppers, and seasoned it with whatever you have in your cupboard that you like. I like this Mrs. Dash, but you can also add stuff, other things with it, you know, other seasonings, but that's just an example. So this seasoned blend had the Mrs. Dash in it, it had garlic powder, and I had some thyme, I believe, something like that.
Awesome.
Okay. And so then I made brown rice. How many have a rice cooker in here? That's a good— that's good to have, okay? And I did make some rice. Oh, you did? So somebody could come up and we can get 2 volunteers.
Me, me.
To taste the rice.
Oh snap, wait, so y'all understand, if you ever been to a funeral here at Friendship, Linda Bostic's rice be busting. I don't even care what nobody No, you have a spoon?
Yeah.
I will use my hand. I'm just kidding, I will not, I will not. Sister Lisa, you wanna do it? Deacon Lisa?
Okay, here you go. Here's a plate. So we use some brown rice in there, and then I mix—
Oh yeah, we're giving a serving.
This is cheap, but I like these 'cause it has a little seasoning packet. Mix that seasoning packet in there. I put some bell peppers in there. Put some of these in there, and some chicken broth.
Lori, bless this food in Jesus' name. Yep, Linda Bostic made it. Yeah, absolutely. So let me just get this together. So you're saying it's really good, isn't it?
No.
Oh, so what you're suggesting here is we have we prepared. Oh, sorry.
Mm-hmm.
Oh, the leaves. Oh, these are bell peppers.
Oh, red bell peppers. I'm sorry, y'all.
See, some of the people, we got, we gotta explain it for the slow people in the back.
Put some red bell peppers.
Have never, who never cut a pepper up before. Uh, yeah, that's why we doing this. Yeah, because they go to McDonald's too much. All right, I said what I said. That's what I said. Awesome. So let me go over this again. Water, preparing to drink water.
Yes.
Preparing to drink water. Preparing my breakfast as well. Egg bites, I love this. You scramble the eggs, put it together. Chicken, we season it, can cook it. And then you also have a spinach salad cut up. It's just cucumbers, tomatoes, and spinach. And then the rest of this together, a rice cooker, something that can be prepared for dinner at night or for lunch during the day. What is one suggestion you would give in terms of, like, if somebody's saying, I'm too busy, or, this might be too much for me, what is someplace they can start? What is an easy, low-hanging fruit that if they're saying, like, one thing you can apply tomorrow, as they go to stop at Safeway on the way home from church today, like, I can apply tomorrow?
Well, I would suggest that, you know, of course you do your shopping before, take a shopping list, and do your shopping and think about what you want to eat during the week. And once you do that, we have— they have meal prep bowls, which are over here, that you could prep all of your food. They have the square ones at the grocery store and they have the round ones, but you can prep all of your meals and just put it in the fridge and just grab it. So my takeaway is to always just be prepared and think about what you want to eat, okay? And then prepare it.
Awesome.
Okay.
Awesome.
Thank you. And then before you let me go, Yeah. Of course, we had the vegetables. There's some stuff to snack, so you could have pickles. Also, I want to tell people about getting an air popper for your popcorn. If you like the salty, you know, you don't have to salt it up, but it's very healthy and it takes that urge away when you want to eat. And then another tip I have here, because we like chocolate, these fudgesicles, these fudgesicles, Weight Watchers have them, they're really good, but regular fudgesicles, They're only 40 calories, and that gets your chocolate urge. So something to think about.
Hold on, pause. Y'all didn't clap for the chicken. Y'all didn't clap for the rice. Y'all didn't clap for that spa water, that expensive $30 water where you sit there in the— but y'all clap for some fudgesicles.
And your spa when you're at home. I love it. Treat yourself. It's all about And then also grab your watch so you can walk and count your steps during the day.
Absolutely.
And if you're short some steps, go back and run around the house.
Absolutely.
Thank you, everybody.
Absolutely. Give it up for Linda Bosick this morning.
Amen.
If you need to take a picture of this later, need to see it, please do so. Our goal is to make sure we empower people to eat healthy, to live healthy. And you see my shirt today, Temple Maintenance. We cannot say we love the Lord and we're taking care of our bodies bodies, minds, and souls, and not take care of our bodies. Amen, somebody.
Amen.
And so you have one body. My pastor said this to me, it was so profound. He said, you are the only person who needs you to live. You are the only person who needs you to live. Your funeral's gonna come, your job's gonna send your family a fruit basket and keep moving, right? People are gonna go to church, they're gonna go home, they're gonna eat, and they're gonna go home and go to sleep. You need you to live. How are you stewarding and taking care care of your body, your mind, and your soul. So take care of your body, take care of your mind, take care of your soul. And that's what we're here today to make sure you do. And so please be sure you meal prep this week. So whether that's chicken, whether that's steak, whatever it is— and Sister Linda gave you multiple recipes. We have some other recipes on our website too if you go to our blog page. We have multiple recipes that Minister Natalie gave us a year ago that we still have out there during our Whole30 diet, during our Whole30 fasting, where we didn't just fast to get away from food, we wanted to eat healthy for the time we spent with God. So we want you to be healthy, want you to be intentional. And as you go into the fall, as you got some— you know, my mother used to say you got to put some meat on your bones in the fall. I don't know why, but if you need to, these are some healthy ways to put meat on. You don't need it fried, you can bake it, and if you season it right, it'll taste just as good. Um, now when you get to Thanksgiving, be mindful, and hopefully by the time we get to Thanksgiving, we can talk about some healthy things you can add in addition to That jelly cranberry sauce. Amen. Because if it ain't jellied, it ain't real. All right, so all of that. I don't know, somebody gave some real cranberries. I was like, what are these muddled cranberries? I need an Ocean Spray can.
Amen.
Give me my sugar.
All of that.
All right, all right. So all of that being said, hope you guys know that's why we're here as a church. Like, my— here as a pastor, my goal is to help you with your mind, your body, and your soul. And so this is your body today as you take care of your temple. All right, all right. So we have a couple announcements we want to go over today. Next— not next Sunday, I'm preaching for Pastor Greg Hunter at Olivet Baptist Church at 4 PM. If you guys want— amen— if you guys want to come on out, um, we would love for you guys to be there with us. We'll preach. You guys know when I go out, it's a different world. Uh, it's a different world for me. And so I'm excited to preach for him. Our praise team's coming, our ushers are coming. We can't wait to celebrate, uh, Pastor Hunter on next Sunday at 4 PM in Oakland. And then on the 30th, on the 5th Sunday, our kids are taking over worship. And as our kids take over worship, we're going to talk about the end times. And but we need your kids in rehearsal, not this Monday, but next Monday and next Thursday. Amen, somebody! Next Monday and on next Thursday, we need your kids in rehearsal because they're going to sing and they're going to lead worship. They're going to be a part of our entire worship experience. And then they're also going to help me preach, and not in the ways you're Yes. But they're gonna help me preach on the 5th Sunday too as we talk about the end times. And that sermon will be interactive, so you'll be able to tweet or probably thread us, 'cause I ain't on Twitter. So we're gonna thread together about the end times and talk through that on the 5th Sunday too. So the end of the month is gonna be a lot of fun. There's other announcements you'll be able to engage with as well. But I really wanna emphasize, parents, not this Monday but next Monday, we need your kids in rehearsal at 6:30. And then on Thursday at 6:30 too. And they'll have some pizza and they're gonna eat and all of that. And we are your free little babysitting service, but you gotta come back. Amen. Y'all be gone and y'all be out like, oh, y'all be back at 10. You gotta be back, amen, by 8 o'clock to pick your kids up 'cause we ain't taking 'em home.
Amen.
Oh my gosh, so we be sitting here like, where are these parents? And y'all be like, we good, we'll see you tomorrow. Mm-mm, come back. Amen, come back. And all of that.
All right.
All hearts and minds together. It's offering time in the house of our God. It's offering time in the house of our God. It's offering time. We give because the Lord gave unto us first, and our giving is a response to what the Lord has already accomplished. And so your generosity allows us to be the church that God called us to be. There's a myriad of ways you can give. You can text in. You can scan the code in front of you. You can scan the QR code. Go to our website, or you can give in the baskets that'll be passed in front of you. However you wish. Wish to give, we receive it and steward it well to build the body of Christ. Your generosity allows us to be the church that God called us to be, and we're excited about the fall. We have our health fair coming up. We have, um, whatchamacallit, I forgot, there's other, um, something with small groups and our giveaways with small groups. Um, we're finalizing a job fair where I'm trying to have jobs here. Hear this, where it's jobs that only pay $75K or plus. Amen, somebody. And that job fair. We have resume writing and mock interviews for those jobs. Amen, somebody. And so I'm really excited about it. We have another event that's coming up. We're partnering with an organization to help those who recently got out of prison. There'll be a suit factory and a dress place in here where they're gonna come through and get suits and get dresses and keep— I mean, it's just amazing stuff that we're allowed to do. The reason I don't beat you over the head for giving, we don't have a soul a seed line. I ain't got no $20 line. It's because when you give unto God and you tithe— we talked about this in Malachi 3 a couple weeks ago— when the temple has what the temple needs, the temple doesn't have to beg for it. Amen, somebody.
Amen.
And so when you give, the Lord not only gives to you, but he makes sure we can give to other people. And so your generosity allows us to be a church that creates unforgettable experiences for people who are far from God and do anything short of sin. So you can give in a myriad of ways, and you can give in the baskets, however you give, we receive it. We say thank you, and we will steward it well to build the body of Christ. We have a tither's covenant. We say here, our tither's covenant binds us in contract with the word of God, believing that when we do what God says, God's gonna— we do what God says, God's gonna do what God says. Would you stand with us all over the building and let's say our tither's covenant together as we get ready to give liberally unto the Lord Jesus? Repeat after me. Say, I'm a giver. I'm a cheerful giver. My tithe is a catalyst It will transform communities. I hold wild mercy in my hands. It will show love generously. It will heal people immediately. It will transform Vallejo prophetically. I anticipate with awe how God will blow my mind With abundant harvest, I am ready right now to give, to trust, and to receive in Jesus' name. Father, thank you for the gift and the giver. Use these gifts to do the work you've called us to. Make it easy. We thank you for every person who's trusting you with their generosity today to follow through on the commitments that they made unto you because of how you are in covenant with us. We thank you for something to give, a place to give it. and a community, God, that is fertile ground for us to sow into. We honor you today. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Everybody said amen. You may be seated. Ushers will take up our offering, announcements will play, we'll sing, and then we'll dive into the word of God. I'm so glad you're here with us this morning.
Welcome to Friendship, where we believe everybody is welcome, nobody is perfect, Welcome home. And to all of our guests, a special welcome to you. You are in a community of Christ-centered people. We are better today because you are here. Please connect with us. You can connect immediately by texting the phrase hello to 707-510-4150. And once you get a message back, show that message to our connection team for a free gift after worship.
Welcome to the house of the Lord.
Small groups are back in full swing. Register today at friendshipvaleo.org/groups, or just look at the list and show up to the group that interests you. Join us next Sunday at 4 PM as we travel to the Olivet Church in Oakland to celebrate the 12th pastoral anniversary of Pastor Greg Hunter. Our praise team will be singing and our own Pastor Justin will be bringing the word. We look forward I'm looking forward to seeing you there. Our church picnic is coming up just 2 weeks away. We're going to Dan Foley Park right after church on Sunday the 30th. Come on up and have fun with the family. Let's eat, let's play, and let's fellowship. I'm looking forward to seeing you there. Well, that's all that's coming down your street. As you can tell, here at Friendship, we love, heal, serve, and build. If you need to contact the church, please be sure to call 707-648-2005 or email us at hello@friendshipvalejo.org. You can find all our church information online at our website. Follow us on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram. Like and subscribe on YouTube. Give someone a hug this week. Now let's jump back into worship.
All right, all right.
I'm gonna ask for a little bit of crowd participation real quick. This next song, though we often tend to correlate an up-tempo beat that moves us to to praise, this next song is actually a prayer. I'm gonna ask you all to pray along with me. I'm gonna ask you all to pray along with me. We know it's back to school time, and. We want to pray for God's divine protection over our children, over our loved ones, those going off to college, those going to— those moving away to a new land outside of the parents' eye where you can't drive around the corner to see them, right? Right there, they stayed somewhere. We want to pray for the Lord's divine protection. Let's start by praying for each other. Tell you what, whether you know their name or not, find somebody Look at somebody next to you. Find somebody next to you and ask them what their name is. Ask them what their name is. Look at somebody. What's their name? All right, all right. Now that you know what their name is, I want you to pray for them. Simply say, Lord, protect— and that's where insert their name. Insert their name. Lord, protect—
Protect.
Uh, Britton.
Britton.
All right. And then say, in Jesus' name, amen. Man, y'all ready, man? Let's proclaim the Lord's divine protection right here. Sing this good old classic if you know it.
Whoa, songs say Jesus, Jesus, be a fence, be a fence all around me every day.
Jesus, I want you to protect me.
Jesus, I want you to protect me as I travel. Let me hear verse 1.
God bless you, Sister Maria.
This is my prayer, Lord, that I pray to you every day.
Pray with me. Pray with us.
As I go along the way, Lord, I need you to direct me all along this narrow way. Lord, be a fence all around me every day.
Yes, sir.
Yes, sir. Hallelujah. Say Jesus. Jesus. Be a fence all around me every day. Jesus, come on, Jesus. As I travel along the way, I know you can.
Yes, Lord.
I know you will. Yes, Lord.
I'm better.
Yes, Lord. Keep still. Yes, Lord. Your spirit's on me.
We got another prayer. We got another prayer. Sister Brittany, can you help us out?
Sometimes the way gets so much longer and the nights are so long. My hour of witness, battle enemy trying to steal my soul. But when it comes like a flood to surround me, my God will step in and the standard he will raise. All on me, events all around me every day. Oh, I say Jesus, Jesus, be events all around me every day. Jesus, I want you to protect me as I travel along the way. Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. Lord, be a king. Start around me every day.
Let's go to the band, y'all. Sing it with us.
Jesus, be a king. Jesus, be a king. Jesus be with us. Jesus be with us. Jesus be with us right now. Jesus be with us.
Earth, I come and I go.
Jesus be with us. Jesus be with us. Jesus be with us. I need you to guide me, Lord. Jesus be with us. Lead me and guide me. Jesus be with us.
Jesus be with us.
Jesus be with us.
Oh, I need protection.
Protection. Protection.
Protection.
Say protection.
Protection. Say I love the Lord.
I love the Lord.
Protection.
Protection. I need protection. Protection. Protection. Protection. I love the Lord. I love the Lord. It's Jesus' healing. Jesus' healing. Jesus' healing. Jesus' healing. Along the way, along the way, along the way, along the way. Jesus be with me. Jesus be with me. Jesus be with me.
Jesus be with me.
Say protection, protection, protection, protection, protection, protection.
Strong tower, be my strong tower. Elohim, say I need you.
Say I need you.
Say I need you.
Say Elohim, protection, protection, protection.
Oh Lord, protection, protection. Elohim, over my father and my mother and over my My sister and my brother, protection, protection, protection.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Protection, protection, protection, protection, protection, protection, protection. Be a fish. Jesus be a fish. Jesus be. Jesus be.
Jesus, be a fish right now. Jesus, be a fish.
Jesus, be a fish. Say protection.
Protection.
Protection. Protection.
Protection.
God, I'm on the way.
Walk with me, God. Say protection. Walk with me, Lord. Say I'm on the way. I'm on the way. Say I'm on the way. I'm on the way. Show me where to go. Be my good God. Be my battle God. Let's move through it and say, I need you.
Say, I need you.
Anybody need him? Lord, we need you. We invoke your presence, your power in our lives day after day when we go our way. God, I need you.
Lord, I need you. Yeah, I need you.
I need you everywhere that I go, in all that I do, in all that I say. I need, I need, I need you.
Be a fist, Jesus. Be a fist, oh Lord.
Jesus, be a fist right now.
Yeah, yeah, be a fist, Jesus. Be a fist.
Put those hands Hands together. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. We got, we got, we got, we got to get ready for the word. We got to get ready for the word. So sing this with me. Say, walk with me, Lord. Come on, my Baptist folks at— where my Baptist folks? Walk with me. I need y'all to sing. We didn't rehearse this.
We didn't rehearse this.
Walk with me. Say, while I'm on this tedious journey, I want you. I need Jesus. I want Jesus.
I want Jesus.
To walk with me. For the praying folks that know how to walk with the Lord, say, hold my hand.
Hold my hand, Lord.
Hold my hand.
Hold my hand.
Say, hold my hand, Lord.
Hold my hand, Lord.
Hold my One more verse, one more. Paul Morton was in the room, he would say, "Nobody but you." Yeah, nobody but you, Lord. Nobody else can protect me.
Nobody but you, Lord.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, nobody but you, Lord.
Nobody but you, Lord. No, no, no, nobody but you, you. While I'm alone, this is unique, God.
Yeah, I want Jesus, I want Jesus to walk with me. Yeah, to walk with me. If that's your prayer this morning, put those hands Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Yeah!
Aren't you glad that if you ask him to walk with you, he'll walk with you? Grandma used to say he'll walk with you and he'll talk with you, and he'll tell you that you're his own, and he'll give you joy as you tarry with him.
Father.
Father, we're grateful that you always come through on your word. Thank you for being offense. Thank you for being consistent. As we dive into your word today, show that to us, that we might leave here trusting you even more. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Everybody said amen. Anybody ready for the word of God today? Well, grab your Bibles. Malachi chapter 3. Let's continue our journey in Malachi. And stand with me if you would. I tried to walking earlier, it didn't like me. But what I wanted to show you guys today is that— so when I first was learning to preach in Mount Pulpits, I practiced on my parents' treadmill, which is kind of funny. And so I was like, I want a treadmill today. I just couldn't get it to work. I think I'm too heavy for it. And, uh, but I wanted to show you that if I could work out, uh, and preach the gospel, you can work out for 10 minutes too. Amen, somebody.
Amen.
And so it just didn't like me before, but I was ready to do some sprints. I may do one later, but It just didn't like me this morning, and to work with. But I want to challenge you, if you work— what is it, like 4-mile, 3-speed on a treadmill at like a 4 incline? And my football coach— sorry, my basketball coach in the offseason would be like, you do that for 30 minutes every single day, just keep your body moving. And then eventually you keep going up and you do that for 20 minutes, 30 minutes, even 40 minutes. And then you add sprints in every 2 minutes. And just to get your body moving, get your heart rate up, just to challenge you to take care of yourselves. Amen, somebody.
Amen.
Amen.
You need you to live. And so it's amazing, we'll talk about sex and money and all that type of stuff, but you got to take care of your body. Amen, somebody. And it shouldn't take you hoping and praying before you go to your doctor in January or February for your annual and hope and pray that you're not gonna get a bad report. You should know going into it. Like, if I study for my test before I take the test, I know I'm gonna pass it. Amen, somebody. So if I go to my doctor, but I've taken care of my body for the year, I'm excited. Like, man, let me tell you what you're about to see. You're about to see like 20 pounds off. I'm healthy. I'm breathing. Amen, somebody. I'm breathing well. I can get on the StairMaster and stay on it for more than 30 seconds, right? There's all of that. So I want you to take care of yourselves, your mind, your body, and your soul. All right, Malachi 3, beginning of verse number 16. Hear the word of God this morning. Then those who feared the Lord told talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. I want you to underline that verse. I want you to underline that text. That's going to be our focus today. Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name. On the day when I act, says the Lord Almighty, they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them just as a father has compassion on his— and spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not. Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other. The Lord listened, and the Lord heard. Let's pray together. God, open our eyes that we might see you, our ears that we might hear you, and break our hearts as we learn to love you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Everybody said, amen.
Amen.
You may be seated. As you take your seats, look at somebody around you and say, Somebody.
I'm built.
I'm built. For more than this.
For more than this.
That's what I want to wrestle with this morning. I'm built for more than this. God's been privileging me to travel the country to talk at a lot of conferences, and it's been fun. And I'm gonna tell you the names of some of the conferences I've been to. I've been to the Breakthrough Conference, the Next Level Conference, the New Dimension Conference, the More Glory Conference, the 4-Year Glory Conference, the Her Glory Conference, the His Glory Conference, More Glory Your Story Conference. I mean, all these conferences I've been to. And I was sitting down in a pulpit one day, and this person was up preaching at the More Glory Conference, and he was whooping, hollering, snotting. It was really good. It was a really good sermon. And I was sitting there in the pulpit. It was. It was a good sermon. I was sitting there in the pulpit, and I said to myself, God, there's got to be more than this to you. Like, you can't tell me that you came, suffered under Pontius Pilate, died on a cross on Friday, was resurrected on Sunday morning for me to keep going to more breakthrough, next level, new level conferences. There's got to be more to your word than a new level. And so I would remember my wife and I— I tell this story all the time now— my wife and my son and I were at a conference in Florida, and it was called the Next Level Conference. We had t-shirts called the Next Level Conference. We were walking around, where are we going? The next level. What are we doing? What going to the next level. And so this guy got in the elevator, Next Level Conference t-shirts. Camden had a Next Level Conference t-shirt. Courtney had a Next Level Conference t-shirt. My mother-in-law had a Next Level Conference t-shirt. I had a Next Level Conference t-shirt. We did all these videos. Where are we going? The next level. And this guy got on the elevator and asked us a question I'll never forget. He said, so what level are you on? Because if you're going to the next level, Where are you?
Where are you?
And I think we're so consumed with the next level that we forgot that maybe the gospel is more than the cycle of coming out, going through, coming out, going through, coming out, going through healing. And I'm not dismissing your breakthrough and your healing. I'm just saying there's got to be more to Jesus than breakthroughs and healing. Because when I read Malachi chapter 3, verse 16 through 18 in context, after we've read through 3 chapters of covenant failure, after you read through 3 chapters of God calling the prophets out, I realized something. Jesus did not die for breakthrough conferences. He did not go to the cross for new levels. He did not go to the cross so you can keep talking about other people. He went to the cross for one reason, verse number 17, because you are his treasured possession. Ah, the Hebrew there is the word segula, that you are his treasured possession. And on the great day of the Lord's coming, everything has been pointing to this. God will separate you as the righteous versus the wicked. And you, he will call a scroll of remembrance and remind you of all the things you've done in your life that reflected that God has kept his covenant with you. And God will distinctly separate those. He will be delighted in some, he'll be disgusted with others. And here God says the reason reason I'm sending my Son is because I value you. When you see that you have been set apart because you have been marked with distinction for the great day of the Lord's coming, when you see that God has set you apart because you are his treasured possession— baby, I don't care about no new level and new dimension. I'm grateful that I am the possession of Jesus.
That's right.
And that Jesus will set you apart with distinction. That there are the righteous and there are the wicked, and your decisions make it whether or not you are marked by God as the righteous or the wicked. In essence, there is a heaven, there is a hell. Your decisions on earth make the choice of where you'll spend eternity. I know we don't like this type of preaching, but here's the truth of the matter. I can give you new jobs. I can tell you about God's gonna give you a new job. Turn around on your head, spin around together. Let me tell you something, baby. If you have not confessed with your mouth, believe in the heart your Lord Jesus Christ, you have kept your ticket to hell. When you confess him, you've canceled your ticket to hell and you've opened up your ticket to heaven. Amen. Amen. See, y'all didn't shout for me on that. Y'all didn't shout enough for me on that. When you say yes, to Jesus, you have canceled your ticket to hell. Amen.
Amen.
Amen. Amen. And that I have given myself all the opportunity to spend the rest of eternity with Jesus, that I will be like those who know the Lord. I will be caught up with him, and I will see Jesus for eternity because God says, you have trusted that you are my special possession. So how do you do that? It's the decisions you make. The people in this text made a decision. Verse 16, they feared the Lord. They talked to each other. That's it. The people in Israel, they sat there in this moment and they made a generational change by making one decision. Because let me tell you this, you break generational curses by making generational choices. So good.
Amen.
But you don't make generational choices knowingly. Like, you don't wake up tomorrow and be like, I'm going to make a generational choice. The person who invented the pencil did not wake up one morning saying, I'm going to change the course of communication today. No, they were solving the problem in front of them. The person who invented the wheel did not wake up and say, I'm going to change and start the entire transportation industry. They needed to move some from point A to point B, and they made a— and they made a wheel. And that wheel, that practical small decision, produced a ripple that nothing could stop. For many of you in the room, what God is calling you to do is to consider your daily choices, because your daily choices will create a ripple for people you'll never meet. The person in your bloodline that took alcoholism out your bloodline did not stand in the kitchen one day and say, I'm gonna break a curse. They said, I'm not going to let alcohol make decisions for me. And that one decision created a ripple that changed the patterns for the future. What are the small choices that God is calling you to make that'll be generational choices that'll break generational curses? Because you make the ordinary decisions that align with who God said you are. So who are you? I am God's special possession. When you accept who— what God says over you daily in your small decisions, when you accept who God says over you and what God says over you in your daily decisions, the choices that nobody sees, that you say every day, I'm going to live like this, I'm going to live as if God values me, that if God is standing next to me, would he be pleased with this decision? When you make those decisions, you are creating ripples. And the text says when They feared the Lord. They talked to each other. They honored his name. Look what God did. The Bible says that God inclined his ear. I love the Hebrew there. I want to give you the Hebrew. I'm going to say this over and over. The Hebrew of that text is that God literally got off the throne, tilted his ear to the mouth of his children, that whenever they communicated, God immediately heard. And everything they did he wrote down in the scroll of remembrance so that when a hard season comes or if Satan wants to attack them, God says, before you come to them, you've got to check the scroll. You can't touch my treasured possession. We don't shout enough on this. God leans in, writes down, and says, I treasure you. What do you do with that? It's easy for us to get sermons like this, and we've talked this whole series about how God stands on business. And we talked in the first week about what it means to check your heart, what it means that God loves you, what it means to confront our worship, what it means to confront our leadership, what it means to confront the God of justice, what it means to tithe. Last week we talked about what it means to be exhausted in the faith. And here we are after all of this. God says, when you make the decision with everything I've challenged you on to turn to me and fear me, that's the beginnings— Proverbs chapter 1— of your wisdom. I want you to see this whole book is a byproduct of positive and negative generational choices. Terry Tippett Williams says it like this. She says, the eyes of the future are looking back at us, praying for us to make their paths smooth. The eyes of the future looking back at us, praying for us to make their paths smooth. What are you telling the future? And I want to challenge you, you need to tell the future you You were built for more than what you see. No, you were— Yeah, amen. You were built for more than just enduring. You're built for more than making it paycheck to paycheck.
Come on.
You're built for more than just surviving it to next month. You're built for more than hoping your bills are gonna make it through. You're built for more than applying for more credit cards. Come on, somebody. You're built for more than payday loans. Come on, somebody. You're built for more than hoping you can make it. You're built for more than survival. You're built for more than just getting through. You're built for more than just making it. You're built for more than crying every single night. Come on, you're built for more than those headaches, than the anxiety, than that stress. You are built for more than what you see. And when you realize that Jesus didn't die for you just to make it, he died for you to have a life in abundance. Talk to me, somebody. That's physical abundance, social abundance, emotional abundance, spiritual abundance. Physical abundance that Jesus did not die for you just to make it to next month. He died that you might have all your life. I am built for more than this. So how do we do this? Well, we got to break one conversation and fall in love with another. What conversation we got to break? You have your Bibles open. Go back up three verses. So last week we talked about this conversation last week. The Bible says in Malachi chapter three verses thirteen. through 15, the conversation we have to stop is verses 13 through 15. The text says, they told God, you've spoken arrogantly against me. How have we spoken arrogantly against you? You've told me it's worthless to serve the Lord. We think the arrogant ones are blessed. So last week we talked about this. The people came together and said serving the Lord is pointless. Arrogant people are prospering. You know why? Cynicism was their theology. This is a community that was processing disappointment, and the processing of their disappointment made God smaller and their problems bigger with every sentence. And then verse 16 comes along and one word changes everything. The entirety of this book, God has been telling the people of Israel to turn back to him. And verse 16, someone say, then.
Then.
Then they turned. Finally, God has told them how to turn by tithing. That was chapter 3. He told them what not to do in terms of cynicism, and then they finally did it in verses 16 through 18. Then they turned. In the same room, there are people who are cynical about God's goodness, and there's people over here, the remnant, the powerful ones who have also been to Babylon, the powerful ones who have also gone through exile, the powerful ones who are also the descendants of the people of Israel. These same individuals with the same pressure and the same story and the same injustice and the same people, the same people they can see are winning, they say, you can keep your focus on them, but we're gonna keep our focus on God. Because what conversation you join is going to disciple you in this next season. The conversation in verses 13 through 15 was cynicism being formed out loud. And when a community reinforces cynicism together long enough, your cynicism becomes your doctrine. Your children grow up as cynics, so that you interpret God as a cynic. My faithfulness doesn't matter. The arrogant always win. Think about the things you say to your children, because here's the thing for many of you, many of you do not have faith. You have cynicism dressed as a shout.
Whoo!
Because your disappointment has a microphone. And so when you come to worship, you go to your Bible to complain and be gaslit. That's why you only read scriptures like, I can do all things through Christ, not repent and be baptized.
Yeah.
That's why you read scriptures that make you feel like how amazing you are, not the scriptures that call out the places where you won't let God come into. And so how do we change this? Because you've got— I'm talking to families in the building You pass down more than just your actions. You pass down assumptions. You pass down interpretation. You pass down vocabulary. You pass down how you deal with struggle. You pass down how God— when God disappoints you, how you handle it. You pass down how you talk about marriage and leadership and authority. You pass down what obedience costs. What you talk— who you talk to determines what gets talked to. And some generational choices need to start as conversations that you need to keep having. And the people of Israel had a different conversation. Verse 16, look at the movements of the text. I'm almost finished. Look at the movements of the text. Look in verse 16. Here's the first movement of the text. If we're going to be people that are built for more than this, here's the first thing they did. Look at the text, verse 16a. They revered God differently. They revered him differently. Look at the text. Those who feared the Lord, they simply did something different than other people. The word Yairah is the one in the text where we get the word Yahweh from. It's the whole person orientation to God's goodness goodness and worth, that they are so in awe of God. They said, we're going to worship God more than we have our focus on the arrogant people in our world.
Yes.
When they put their focus fully on God, everything changed. Here in Malachi, in this text, Yireh, or Yahweh in speech, for them was service. It was action. They didn't— they told us in this text, we don't just feel the presence of God, we are trusting the performance of God. Yes. Okay, I don't feel like praising him, but I've watched him perform. And because I've watched him perform, I'm going to honor that he can do more than that. So when God throws his weight around, a remnant choice, a generational choice, changes my conversation, because there is nothing the arrogant can do that can't be outdone by God.
That's right.
Let me tell you what you truly fear. You can tell— here's my principle— you can tell what you truly fear when you— by what you refuse to violate. Number 2, they revered God differently. Then they— secondly, 16b, the second movement of the text, they talked differently. Look at the text. They talked with each other. So, principle: you are blessed, but your blessings often Come through people. You can say you're all bad by yourself, but you need people. Amen, amen, amen, amen. You can say you I N D E P E N D E N T. Do you know what that means? You got your own house, got your own car, two jobs, work hard, but you need people.
Amen. Mm-mm.
You need people. In a world of cynicism, you cannot go around this world by yourself. Some faith needs a meeting. You know what's amazing? Because you were saying like, I don't need people to help me, I don't need people to push me up. Then why do you surround yourself with people who tear you down? Oh my God. You'll get together and you'll sin together, but you won't shout together.
Amen.
Well, I ain't scared of none of y'all. You will get together and talk about what's wrong in your life, but you won't get together to celebrate the goodness of God in your life. Why is it that you can go out with your friends to a party until 2 o'clock in the morning, but then you only get 3 hours of sleep on a workday? You get 7 hours of sleep to come to church at 11 and still won't come to church together. There's a problem with your circle if I can sin with you and not shout with you. Come on, talk to me, somebody. They were countercultural here. When the room became cynical, faith created a counterculture. They said the arrogant are better than us. The remnant said, but fearing God is what matters. And when they talked differently, they chose some different people, because I need people around me who are going to hold me accountable to my faith and not just be there with me to sing.
Amen.
Mm-hmm.
Because when you're alone in a hard season, the voice of the problem has no competition. But when you have people around you in a hard season— baby, I've been through this, I came out of this. Let me tell you, this ain't gonna kill you either because I've been there, but God brought me out. I've been in this. Am I talking to anybody in the building that when I'm alone by myself, my cynicism takes over, but when I have somebody with me, they can pull me out when I want to keep myself in it? They pull me through when I want to stay in there, and I can change a culture when I'm not by myself. Who's in your circle changing your responses? I need you to have people in your circle that when you start rising into your hyper-independence, they tell you things like, I won't let that come out of you.
Yeah.
No, no, when you start saying, I'm not going to eat this week, hold on, we're going to eat together. Come on, somebody. I'll take you out. No, no, we don't do that. We don't talk about ourselves like that. Come on, talk to me, somebody. We don't go there. I need people in my circle that say, no, we don't, we don't do that. No, no, no, I know what you used to do. I'm not gonna let you go there. Nope, give me your phone. Don't text them back. Come on, talk to me. I need a circle that is either— I need people that'll reinforce the covenant I have with God.
Yes.
Who in your circle is helping you fear God better?
Be specific.
Number 3, so what God does in response. The Bible tells us, so not only they revered God differently, they talked differently, but then look what God did in response to that. So in verses 13 through 15, the arrogant are prospering, everybody else is doing better than us, what does serving God matter? In verses 16 through 19— so 16 through 18, they revered God differently, they feared him, they talked differently, and what God did when they had a different response and they feared God Look what God— he does 3 things. The first thing God does is he leans in. Same verse we get when we get to the book of Psalms, where that God will incline his ear. Literally, God— told you before, the Hebrew there is so powerful— God gets off his throne, puts his ear to your mouth.
Yes. Y'all don't know this.
Oh, because obedience to God may not give you applause. But it gets God's attention.
Oh my God!
God, when you fear and talk to others around you and build a community, God says, "You've got my attention," and God will get up in the same room where the cynics are and hear your conversation. Not only will He lean in on you, not only will He hear your prayer and incline His ear to you, but then the Bible says, then He. wrote it down.
Right.
Ah, Bible. It's, it's the word, right? The word there for the scroll of remembrance is a royal archived record. It's a memorandum for the king. I'll tell you, the last time we saw it in the book of Esther, the king couldn't sleep. The servants brought him a record, the chronicles of memorable deeds. They read it to the king when he— and the king was listening, and he came across the record of a brother named Mordecai. And Mordecai had uncovered a plot against the king. The king said, why did not we reward what Mordecai did? They said, why would we reward him? The king said, because it was written in the book.
Yes.
Nobody saw what he did, but because somebody wrote it down, why haven't we honored him? But nothing's been done. So on that night, everything changed in Mordecai's life because it was written in the scroll of remembrance that when you are quietly faithful That's right. That your loyalty to God may not give you public recognition, but God says, when the great day of the Lord comes, I will remember every deed you've done, because heaven keeps a record of what the earth forgets about. People may not clap for you when you serve the homeless, but let me tell you, God wrote it down. People may not clap for you when you let somebody cut you in line, but Amen. But God wrote it down. People may not clap for you when you prayed for people that don't even know your name, but God says, I wrote it down. And the reason your bills are always paid, the reason your health is always together, the reason you ain't lost your mind, the reason you kept a job in the middle of layoffs, the reason you got a job you didn't qualify for is because when it came time, when your name came up, God said, hold on a second, let me show you what they've done in private, that when nobody applauded for you, you kept praying. And God says, I will reward your faithfulness when it seems insignificant. So no, you ain't got to be on everybody's stage.
Be faithful.
Come on, talk to me, somebody. No, you ain't got to be on everybody's Instagram. Be faithful. No, you ain't got to be on everybody's church. Be faithful. No, you ain't got to have the mic to sing. Be faithful. Because the Lord— those Those who serve in private will be rewarded publicly. And I wish I had about 15 folk in the building that could take 15 seconds and thank God for every public reward you've received for your private prayers. When you stayed when you wanted to give up, when you sat through when you wanted to throw in the towel, God rewarded you publicly because you were faithful in private. I had somebody ask me, Pastor Justin, you got all these people wanting to know your story, all these people wanting to get this. Where did this come from? What did you do? You got sage in your house? I said, no, no. The reason all these people are here is because, baby, you don't know all the free websites I gave churches. You don't know all the books I wrote for people, all the proofreading we did. My wife has been there. We've driven across states to serve people and gave the check back. And the reason God is putting you on Now is because he saw the times when you did it in the back room. Don't you dare despise small beginnings, because the small beginning will put you on stage. Bible says he leaned in, he wrote it down, and then look what he did. He claimed them. He said, Satan, you can't touch them.
Why?
Because they are my segula. They are my treasure. Possession. He says, "I own that." Oof! Ah, ah! That's that's mine. That's what he says in this text. He says, "No, you can't put your hand on that because they're mine." That because they kept the covenant. Watch this: When it was easy to walk away from the covenant, God says, "They're mine." When it was easy for them to stop reading their Bible, when it was easy for them to stop showing up, when it was easy for them to stop being consistent, God says, they're mine. And here's what God does to stuff he owns. He says, I will spare them from myself.
Amen. Ah!
God says, I will practice restraint as a son, as if they're sons that serve me. The word shemal in the text is a father's protection over a child he loves. God says that because they kept the covenant with me when it was easy to give up on the covenant, God says, you matter to me because you said to me that I matter to you. So what does he do? Verse 18 shouts me because he sets them apart. He says, on the great day of my coming, I will mark them with distinction. It's like a graduation day. You have graduation, but somebody's getting marked with honors. He says, when the New Jerusalem descends, my God, there will be a separation between the righteous and the wicked. And here's what I'll do: when that Jerusalem descends, there will be some people that will have a visible mark on them, and they'll be marked with distinction. The arrogant might look blessed now, but when Jerusalem descends. They won't be marked with distinction. And verse 18 says there'll be vindication on this day where you— the books will be closed, and the only thing that'll happen is when the New Jerusalem descends, the trumpet will sound, and you'll hear the trumpet. I wish I had somebody that— when the Jerusalem descends, God's— I know we don't shout enough on this, but the good news of the gospel, y'all, is that when Jesus comes, I know where I'm going. God.
Why?
Because God says you have been marked with distinction.
Yes.
That—
here's the thing, you can't tell somebody whether they're holy or not. God says the reason they'll be marked is because of the works they've done. So you don't judge obedience by the first half of their life. You judge obedience by what God says has been marked with distinction.
Amen.
So when the scroll is opened, when the book gets opened, the Bible says God says, I have marked them. So you can't say who's holier than thou. God says that title is on me. That's the text. So my challenge to all of you in the room is if we have all of this, I mean, you got all that. I mean, you, you've just heard me talk about how God is getting off his throne, putting his ear to your mouth, that when you pray, he hears us. So if you whisper it, God heard you. You heard me tell you that God loves you so much. How? That he claims you as his own. You are God's special possession. If this is all God has given you, why do you settle for less than that?
Mm.
Look, this is all that God has given you. God is saying, I— you fear me, I treasure you, you are mine, I have marked you for eternity. That your life is so much bigger than getting to your next paycheck.
Yeah.
What's happened is we've used the remnant language as survival language. We've been using the remnant so we make it through the hard splits. We survive the hard years.
I—
we got the shout, I'm still here by the grace of God. And that endurance is important, but I want to tell you something. You are not a survivor. You are more than just a survivor. Back it up and up. You are more than just a survivor. You are not the worst thing that happened to You.
Yeah.
You do not see God saying in this text, these are the people who got through Babylon. No, these are the people that I've marked.
Yes.
Stop.
They feared the Lord, they honored his name, and survival was just a part of the story, but it's not their story. Remnant says, I lived beyond what could have killed me. Survival just celebrates you didn't die. Remnant says, I'm looking for new life. Because the miracle— my God— is what remained in you. Some of you in the room need to stop and celebrate the miracle you haven't talked about. You lost things, but you didn't lose your heart. You stayed tender to God when When the season should have given you a hard heart. You stayed open when things should have closed you off. And the miracle some of you ought to celebrate is that you didn't lose your heart when you lost your stuff. God, I wish I had somebody. I lost my job, but I kept my praise. I lost my relationship, but I kept my praise. I lost my health, but I kept my praise. I lost some people, but I kept my praise. And some of you, what God is doing is forcing you to remember that your heart did not get hard when life came and pressed your buttons. Am I talking to anybody in the building that can thank God that my heart is still soft after a hard season? That's the remnant.
Yes.
That's the heart that God says fears me. That's the heart that God's put into the scrolls of remembrance. That's the heart that Satan tried to break but couldn't break. And now God says, I've marked that heart with distinction because you are so much more than what you've been through. You are so much more than what you overcame. You are so much more than the season you went through. Let me tell you what you are. You are God's special treasure. You are more than what you went over. You are God's special possession. Am I talking to anybody in the building that could take a moment and thank God? I ain't no survivor. I'm special to God. I ain't no over— I'm special to God. If I get a new level or another level, I am special to God. And God loves me. My grandma put it like this: Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible told me so. Am I talking to anybody in the building that can take 15 seconds, open up your mouth, and thank God that I am God's special possession?
I am God's special possession.
Yes!
Somebody say, I'm built for more than this. I'm built for more. I'm built for more than what I've been through. I'm built for more than making it over. I'm built for more than getting up in the morning. I'm built to be wise. I'm built to be wealthy. I'm built to live my life. I'm built to be healthy. I'm built to lead my children. I'm built to own property. I'm built to give him glory. I'm built to give him praise. I am built for more than this. So stop making bondage look good.
Amen.
I'm talking good in this Anglican church. Stop making bondage look good. Change your posture towards who God is.
Why?
Because I'm his special possession. Now put your shoulders back. I'm I'm his special possession. No, put your head up. I am his special possession. No, put your back straight. Put your shoulders back. Put your head up. Put your back together. Walk on your job. No, you can't fire me. I'm his special possession. You forgot who you talking to. You forgot who my daddy was. You forgot where I came from. You forgot my last name. I am God's special possession, 'cause he walks with me. I feel glory. And he talks with me. And He tells me— watch this— I am His own, and the joy we share as we tarry there, nobody's ever known. So this joy that I have, the world didn't give it to me, and the world can't take it away. Am I talking to anybody in the building? I get joy when I think about all that God has done for me. I need somebody in the building that can help me preach this sermon.
Take me there. 15 I am His own.
seconds and thank God that I am special to God, cuz living he loved me, dying he saved me, buried he carried my sins far away, but rising he justified, freed me forever, and one day he's coming back and I've been marked for that great day.
Hallelujah.
Somebody say, I'm built for more than this.
I'm built for more than this.
So let me give you— hallelujah— let me give you 5 remnant choices that nobody sees, but I want you to make a habit in your— am I helping you today?
Am I helping you today?
All right, let me give you 5 remnant choices. You ready? Everyone, here's the first remnant choice. If you're gonna be someone who's gonna make generational choices that leave a legacy for children you don't have, make generational choices for grandchildren you're praying for. I'm talking to grandparents who are praying for your grandchildren. Your generational choices will break things in their life they don't even know about. Here's how you do that. Your first thing, number one, I want you to pray when you get no credit.
Yes, sir.
Yeah. I want you to intercede for people who may never know you prayed for them.
Yes.
Because intercession without an audience is one of the purest forms of covenant faithfulness available to you. Because watch this, the scroll of remembrance is gonna write down things people didn't clap for. Because let me give you this principle, if you can only pray when people hear you, you might like the audience more than you like the altar. Number 2, I want you to tell the truth when silence would protect your comfort.
That's so good.
I want you to tell the truth when silence will protect your comfort. We talk about telling the truth. I'm gonna tell the truth, tell truth. Let me tell There's a way to tell the truth. You tell the truth in love. Hear me, in love with wisdom, timing, and humility. Back it up. You gonna tell the truth, tell it like it T-I is. You better tell the truth.
In love.
In love with wisdom, timing, and humility. This is the kind of speaking that costs the relationship to save. and serves the person who receives it. 'Cause what happens is we gaslight and flatter people way too much. Flattering is one of the most selfish things you can do to somebody else, 'cause it feels warm, but it withholds what that person might need. But here's what I'll tell you this too, don't ever take constructive criticism from somebody who ain't never built nothing.
Amen.
I've seen too many people steal fruit from other people's trees and pass it off like it's their own. If you ain't built nothing, don't tell me how to.
Period.
Because flattery from that protects my comfort while love will protect my future. Okay, number 3, I want you to give away credit you could have kept.
Yeah.
Oh my God.
I want to do that.
I want you to give away credit you could have kept. I want you to name other people. I want you to share the credit publicly. Okay, yesterday I had a small group meeting, and the reason our small groups are amazing are not because of me. It's because of the 22 teachers that were sitting in that room yesterday that gave away 2 hours of their Saturday to make sure that all of you know how to study the Scriptures. No, my name's on the sign, but our discipleship is great because Stephanie Baker and Edison Kelly make sure our teachers are equipped to teach the gospel.
Amen.
Y'all didn't clap. I said we're great because Stephanie Baker and Edison Kelly make sure our small groups are amazing.
Amen.
Uh-huh, okay.
Pastor Justin is on the New York Times for baptizing 85 people in a year. Absolutely. It's the deaconess who makes sure that all those 85 people had a conversation about Jesus before they got in that water. My name's on the sign, I'm on the New York Times, but the deaconess makes sure— the deacons come here Saturdays to make sure that thing is full.
Yes.
We have a great worship experience, sermon's cool, but it's the volunteers in our praise team, it's Stephen Green picking the songs every week, it's Brittany and Camille teaching those songs every week, it's women and men men coming and serving every single Thursday, whether it's the choir or the praise team. It's 4 musicians that come every single week. My name's on the sign, but I'm only good because of the team behind me. Michelle and her lashes might get to you, but every single funeral in this church, that family feels honored. I get the eulogy, but Michelle cried with you in Michelle cried with you on the Zoom call, and she'll be here with you here. So this is what I want to tell you. That principle, the reason people— you got into the room not by yourself, so don't stay by yourself in the room. If God puts you at the table, bring another chair. Remnant culture is a culture that lifts everybody because we want everybody's name to be on the scroll. I don't want to get to heaven and not see you there.
Amen.
Come here, say it again. I don't want— because we've picked people that we want to be in hell. Oh, you don't want to be honest about it. There are people, your ex, you are saying, I hope the weeping and the gnashing of teeth, and I hope God livestreams it so I can watch it in heaven. That, well, I got one eye on his glory and one eye on them being torn apart. No, no, I want you to say, every person I encounter, I hope I come across their voice in heaven. Because let me tell you this, secure people don't need to be the only ones remembered.
Come on, Pastor!
Okay, number 4, I want you to use access for somebody who doesn't have it. Every room contains people who need that door to be opened. The remnant conversation drew God because the conversation wasn't just about them, it was about other people. Faithfulness always faces outward. Number 5, I want you to release what people owe you without making your forgiveness a performance. I want you to release— I what people owe you without making your forgiveness a performance. Drop the score, release the debt, 'cause no, forgiveness does not release accountability. It doesn't erase boundaries. It doesn't erase wisdom or consequences. Forgiveness stops collecting emotional interest on a debt that someone left unpaid.
Right.
You are making yourself age faster because you won't release them. You're mad at God, you're mad at them, and you're saying, God, you love me when they feel the pain of what they've done to me. And God says, you're my treasured possession. Why do you treasure their demise more than you treasure my love towards you? Release them without making forgiveness a performance. The book of Malachi, through 9 weeks ago, we've been going through this book, and I want to challenge you. I've been harping on generational stuff since January. I told you this is a year to see ourselves well. This text is generational choice. I refuse to let any part of my bloodline be cursed. I don't want to be the reason that somebody doesn't Trust Jesus, and God says, "You're my treasure." Somebody in every generation has to be the person to make God relevant again. Somebody has to choose a different conversation. You don't get every. You don't get to choose what reaches you, but you choose. Watch this: What comes through you? That's so good. You don't get to choose what reaches you; you get to choose what comes.
through you.
Yes.
And you're built for more than what reaches you. You're built for more than getting over, getting through. You're built for more than talking about coming out. I'm talking to people in the room who sat through this series and you feel like you weren't getting it right, and you're watching people feel like they're getting it right, and you sat in comparison. God says, no, release the comparison bug from you, because I wrote your name down. You are built for more than comparing your life to somebody else's life. I'm talking to people in the room who came into this series and you feel like, I gotta give up on this faith thing. This is too much for me to do. You feel like your choices aren't doing enough and you've made peace with a smaller version of yourself. And God says, no, you are built for more than the version of you that gave up from a hard season. I'm talking to the parent who's exhausted. You've been pouring into your children and your household and you haven't heard one thank you at once, but— and you're running on the last piece you have. And I came to tell you, you are built for more than the invisible faithfulness that nobody sees. Heaven has written down everything you've done. I'm talking to the person who's worked hard in a community or the church, and you seem to get hurt by every community you go to. And you sat here and you're wondering whether or not I should join another church. And I came to tell you, you are built for more than the wounds of people who are still trying to figure out the wounds of Jesus. I'm talking to the person who gave up on discipling your family. You prayed for years and they still haven't turned their hearts. You are built for more than their nos because you are the first person to make a different choice. To the person who feels forgotten, you've been faithful and nobody sees you. You see the arrogant prospering. You are built for more than faux invisibility. You are built for more than this. So you're built for more than complaining and negativity. You are built for more than that. Here's what you're built for. You can be humble. You can be settled. I don't have to compare myself to anybody. I'm built for more than comparison. I'm built for more than my insecurity. I am changing what's coming through me because I am built for more than what I've been through.
Yes.
You don't get to choose what reaches you, but you choose what comes through you. What is going to come through you? The people of Israel said, what's going to come through us? We fear the Lord. What comes through us? We going to talk in community. What comes through us? That when Jesus comes, when the Lord descends, I can testify I will see him as he is. So now unto him who's able to keep you from falling in your rising, your lying down, your laughter, even in your tears, until that day We stand in front of him, the only wise God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. Be glory, dominion, majesty, and power now, henceforth, and forevermore. That when we see him, we will see him as he is. And that causes me to rejoice because I have been marked with distinction.
Amen.
I am God's special possession.
Amen.
I fear the Lord, and I'm talking to other people. Every head is bowed, every eye is closed. I'm talking to people in the room today. You have not said yes to Jesus publicly. You have not said yes to Jesus publicly, and today Jesus is pricking your heart. What Jesus is doing in your heart right now, he is reminding you, yes, there is a heaven and there is a hell, and I don't want you to go to hell. I'm not here to fearmonger you. I'm here to tell you the reason I don't want you to go is God says when you fear me, I will mark you. If you're here today and you've not been baptized into God's family, you've not given yourself over to Jesus publicly, you've not said, Jesus, you are mine, I want to pray with you today that you might confess from your heart, believe, confess with your mouth, believe in the heart the Lord Jesus, and that you might be saved for eternity. Do not leave out of here today because you're afraid of people in an aisle. Leave out of here today knowing that heaven is rejoicing because I have canceled my ticket to hell. If that's you, in a second we're gonna pray the prayer of salvation, and I want you to come down and we want to celebrate you. I'm talking to people in the room where this is a season of recommital for you. You want to recommit your life to Christ because you know that you've been making some poor choices that you don't want to have ripples for your future. And today you want to break that choice you've made, and you're saying, I want to make a recommitment to God. I want to give my life over to God again and say, Jesus, you matter to me. I'm talking to people in the building, a new rippling you want to create is a ripple of a church home, a body of Christ that's gonna call you out to the best person you are and pull you to the future, give you the— give you the resources to be that person. If that's you, if that's you, when we open the doors of the church, we want you to walk forward by letter, by candidate for baptism, or Christian experience. Do not leave out of here today just being built for survival. I want you to leave out of here knowing you have life and abundance.
Amen.
Abundant life, Father. I thank you today for those who are saying yes to you, whether in baptism or membership or recommital. We thank you right now, God, in the name of Jesus Christ, that you, God, have the authority to cancel tickets to hell and give us joy to heaven. We thank you that we are your special possession. We are built for more than what we went through. We are built for more than what we overcame. We are built for more than Babylon. We are built to be your special possession, and today. We own that truth on our lives. In Jesus' name we pray. Everybody stand all over the building. If you're here today and baptism is your next step, you're saying, I want to give my life over to Jesus. I'm confessing with my mouth and believing my heart the Lord Jesus Christ. I will spend time in heaven for eternity. If that's you, come down this aisle. We want to celebrate you. If you're looking for a church home, you're looking for a place that is not perfect but a place that is doing our very best to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ, we welcome you to walk down the aisle. We want to celebrate you. We're a church that wants to honor what God is doing in your life. And if that's you, we're going to sing today how we pray for one another, and we simply want to welcome you to be a disciple of Jesus, whether it's by baptism, by recommital to Jesus, or to join the local church. The doors of the church are open. Will there be one today? Will there be one today? We wait. We welcome you today. We welcome I want you to be a part of the fold of God today. And watch God, and watch God, and watch God change things. I pray for you. The doors of the church are open. I pray for you.
I pray for you. You pray for me.
You pray for me.
And watch God change things.
The doors of the church are open. The doors of the church are open. Will there be one today?
Only change. I pray for you. I pray for you. And when you pray for me, and watch God change, and watch God change me.
Grab somebody by the hand. Come on, we're going to pray together. Grab somebody by the hand. Grab somebody by the hand. Everybody grab somebody and look at them.
I pray for you.
Come on, grab Grab somebody, grab somebody. If you pray for me and watch God, and watch God change me.
While you're holding their hand, begin to pray for them. Come on, while you're holding their hand, open your mouth and begin to pray for them while we're singing. Open your mouth and pray for them. Come on, pray for their family. Come on, pray for their mind. Come on, pray for their job. Pray for their strength. Come on, pray the fire of God in their lives. Come on, begin to pray for them right now. Come on, hold— as the person's hand you're holding, come on, pray for their children, pray for their home, pray for their resources. Come on, come on, come on, church, open up your mouth and pray for them. Come on, because they talk with each other, they talk with each other, so we gonna pray for each other and God's gonna bless us. Come on, come on, keep praying for them. Pray for their mind, pray for their resources, pray for their body, pray that God heals them, pray that God delivers them. Pray that God sets them free. Pray that God holds them.
Come on.
And watch God change.
And watch God change.
Now I want you to loose your hands right there, and I want you to praise God for their future. Come on, right there. I want you to loose that hand and begin to praise God for your neighbor. Come on, don't praise God for yourself. God, thank You for my neighbor's success, my neighbor's opportunity. Thank You for their future. Thank you for their resources. Thank you for their mind.
I pray for you.
I pray for you.
I pray.
I pray for you.
You pray for me.
And watch God and watch God.
Watch God change me.
One more time, everybody in the building.
Come on.
I pray for you. I pray for you.
I pray.
I pray for You, you, and what is love?
Won't it change?
Won't it change?
Won't it change?
I pray for you.
I pray for you. I pray for you. I pray for you.
And simply be a wild I pray for, and you pray for me, oh Lord.
And watch God change me.
I'm ready to go.
Come on, just look at somebody. Just point at them real quick. Act like you mad at them. Just act like you mad. I'm pointing at somebody. Tell them, say, I pray. But I point at yourself. I just say, and you pray for me. And what God gonna do?
And watch God change me.
He'll change your family. He'll change your mind. He'll change your children. He'll change your husband.
I'll pray for you.
And you pray for me.
You pray for me.
Watch God change me.
Grab somebody by the hand. We're about to go. Grab somebody by the hand. No more singing. No more.
No, come on.
Just grab somebody by the hand. Grab somebody by the hand. Grab somebody by the hand. I want you to squeeze power into their hand. I want you to squeeze presence into their hand. I want you to squeeze joy into their hand. For some people, this is the first time somebody got next to them today intentionally.
Come on.
Squeeze joy, squeeze peace. Come on, come on. I want you to pray for somebody else, and I'll pray for them too. I know you prayed for somebody earlier. Now pray for them again. Even if you prayed for them, cover them again. Come on. I come against every wile of Satan as you exit out of this place. Y'all gotta excuse me. I done tapped in. I know we got these cameras, but I pray against every piece of witchcraft against you. I come against every witch that knows your name. I come against every word curse on your family. Oh my God! God, I come against every lie that's been told about you. I come against every part of your heart that's been broken. I come against every part of the hardness of your heart. I rebuke every ounce of Satan's desires to kill you, and I speak that you are God's treasured possession, that you are the treasure of God. You are the joy of God. You are God's greatest make, God's greatest creation. So Father, we honor you today for the hand that I hold. I thank I thank you for their life. I thank you for their goals. I thank you for their vision. I thank you that you know them by name. I rebuke every single word curse over them, and we rejoice today that God, they are built for more than what they've gone through. They are built for more than what they're dealing with. They're built for more than their job. They're built for more than depression. They're built for more than anxiety. They're built for more than insecurity. Father, we We release them today to the hands that you've given them and to that— your hands. We release them back to joy and peace and favor and long-suffering. We release them back to peace and patience. We honor you today that we are built for more than what we've been through. We are built to be your special possession. So Father, as we leave from here today, we leave here better. We leave here stronger. We leave here knowing that we are yours. Thank you for marking us with distinction. We cannot wait to see you on that great getting up morning. Somebody say hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
Somebody say thank you, Jesus!
Thank you, Jesus!
If you love the Lord, take 5 seconds, give God great praise. Come on, give him great praise in Jesus' name. Have a wonderful week. God bless you, sir.
One more time, say, I pray for you, you pray for me, and watch God change me. One more time, say, I pray for you.
And will you pray for me when wild thoughts are chasing?
Last time I prayed, I prayed for you. Thank you, Lord.
You prayed for me.
Thank you for praying for this.
And watch God change thee.
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