1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,520 All right, you know, from where from where I stand, I can see 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:08,680 your you guys are facing this way. 3 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:10,760 I'm facing that way and I could see out the doors and it's 4 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:12,680 snowing outside Looks so pretty out there. 5 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:15,680 So I celebrate. You know, if you live in 6 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:17,680 Gaylord, you got to fall in love with the snow, right? 7 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:19,800 You got to just enjoy it. So looking out there, it looks 8 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:21,480 Christmassy and really, really lovely. 9 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:25,440 All right. Hey, wanted to take a moment and 10 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:27,920 say if you're watching online this morning, welcome to you. 11 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:31,440 Join us in person sometime. This is your invitation. 12 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:35,440 We invite you to come be with us in person at 115 E Main Street, 13 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:40,480 right in the old historic part of downtown Gaylord, 115 E Main 14 00:00:40,480 --> 00:00:43,120 St. Our services are 9 and 10:30, 15 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:45,840 except for the weekend between Christmas and New Year's. 16 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:49,280 We'll have one service that we will be at 10 AM and we will 17 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:52,000 look to see you then. Hey, it's such an honor. 18 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,000 I'm really, really grateful this morning to get to introduce to 19 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:56,920 some of you. Many of you are very familiar 20 00:00:56,920 --> 00:00:59,080 with Pastor Steve, but for some of you who are new to our 21 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:01,120 church, he will. You'll be hearing him for the 22 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:03,200 first time. Pastor Steven Cheryl came to 23 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:08,520 gathered in 1980 and have such a legacy of pastoring and leading 24 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:10,800 and discipling people here in Gaylord. 25 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:13,720 And Pastor Steve is the founding pastor of our church. 26 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:16,680 In 2011, he founded Life Church, which became N Life. 27 00:01:16,960 --> 00:01:20,960 And I got to come and Jason, I came in 2018 and got to serve 28 00:01:20,960 --> 00:01:24,200 with him four years before he went on to a really thriving new 29 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:27,040 season ministry working with the Sun, Ross and Big Rapids. 30 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:28,760 He'll tell you a little bit about their church there and how 31 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:30,680 it's growing and doing great things. 32 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:35,080 But Steve and Cheryl together had such a legacy of impact in 33 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:38,280 our community, in the in our church and personally in Jason 34 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:40,000 my life. So we're very grateful for them. 35 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:43,040 Would you please welcome Pastor Steve here as he comes to share 36 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:44,600 the message with us this morning? 37 00:01:50,180 --> 00:01:54,060 Well, good morning, everybody. Hey, it's great to be with you 38 00:01:54,060 --> 00:01:56,860 this morning. Yeah, it's true what he said. 39 00:01:56,860 --> 00:02:00,780 When Cheryl and I moved here, I think I was 28 years old and in 40 00:02:00,780 --> 00:02:04,860 Gaylord, MI and and we are here for quite a long time. 41 00:02:04,860 --> 00:02:09,080 But it's it's great to be with you here. 42 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:13,720 Yeah, it's snowing. What's new How how many of you 43 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:17,520 are new to Gaylord in the last three years? 44 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:20,400 Raise your hand up I quite a few of you. 45 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:26,840 Have you gotten a four wheel drive yet Because you should 46 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:29,360 have a four wheel drive in our our first year. 47 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:33,000 We learned that when we had four blizzards in a row as I was 48 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,160 first pastor here and it was miserable. 49 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:39,760 It's a long story and I won't bore you with details, but we 50 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:44,560 bought a four wheel drive and we learned that that's northern 51 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:47,920 Michigan and we have a lot of stories about that. 52 00:02:47,920 --> 00:02:51,440 But it's funny, even though we live in Northern Michigan, when 53 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:55,320 it snows, we, we always still saw the attendance go down a 54 00:02:55,320 --> 00:03:00,280 little bit that even though we're snowbirds and it's easy 55 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:04,080 for us compared to those city slickers that we used to be, 56 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:07,520 some of you, but but it just becomes a different thing. 57 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:10,840 So but we found out the hard way to have a four wheel drive. 58 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:16,840 So really why I'm here today is to check up on you and I come a 59 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:20,440 couple times a year and, and I know some of you don't know who 60 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:23,040 I am. How many do have never met me or 61 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:25,000 know who I am. Raise your hand. 62 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:27,560 I well, it's good to meet you today. 63 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:32,640 Yeah, this is my wife, Cheryl. Cheryl, stand up and say I'm in 64 00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:39,720 it. We raised our kids here and in 65 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:43,920 the all of the Lord and I. We now pastor down in Big 66 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:47,440 Rapids. My son is the lead pastor of the 67 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:51,680 Res Life Church in Big Rapids and when we moved down three 68 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:55,960 years ago we had 700 people in attendance. 2 weeks ago we had 69 00:03:55,960 --> 00:04:01,280 1700 in attendance. We have three services, a Sunday 70 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:06,960 morning, and we sit 417 people, so we usually fit. 71 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:10,320 Do the math. We usually have 70 people in the 72 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:14,640 foyer to 100 each service. And we have a so if you come 73 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:19,240 late, you're in trouble. So we have TV sets out there and 74 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:22,400 they watch it from there. So we're in a building program 75 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:25,920 there and it's just a very exciting time. 76 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:29,720 I'm one of seven pastors and I'm the oldest. 77 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:34,000 Go figure. And Cheryl's and my job is we do 78 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:38,160 marriage counseling, which we developed here and it's very 79 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:43,400 successful and we've done 47 couples or 57 in three years. 80 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:45,560 And then I do a lot of teaching down there. 81 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:49,160 But anyways, we're having a great time because I have 13 82 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:54,080 grandchildren that live down there, 11 grandsons and some of 83 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:57,880 them play football. So we were going to 4 football 84 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:00,800 games a week this fall and they play each other and several of 85 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:04,720 them and music concerts. So we're we're having a ball 86 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:07,360 down there. But we have fond and great 87 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:13,360 memories of Gaylord, MI And so do you have your Bibles today? 88 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:16,880 Now I'm going to try to read from the NIV. 89 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:23,920 My my wife is my greatest critic when I preach and I endure it. 90 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:29,560 Years ago, I learned that between services, staff asked my 91 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:33,680 wife if I did anything wrong and so she sure to let me know. 92 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:38,120 So first service, I had the wrong version that I was using, 93 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:40,560 but I'll have it right and you'll have it right on the 94 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:44,240 screen today. So let's see your Bibles raise 95 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:47,920 my great. Always bring the word. 96 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:50,760 I know we have it on our phone. I have it on my phone, but I 97 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:53,840 tell you, there's something about the written word and you 98 00:05:53,840 --> 00:05:56,040 can underline it. You should underline your Bibles 99 00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:58,600 right in them. Kurt, I don't care what you say, 100 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:00,920 you should write it right in them. 101 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:03,480 All right, all right, let's pray. 102 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:06,520 Father God, we thank you so much for this morning and the 103 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:15,600 opportunity to hear your word. Lord, I pray that that you would 104 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:19,400 be present in this room and people would hear you and they 105 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:22,840 wouldn't hear me and father, they would grow in faith and 106 00:06:22,840 --> 00:06:25,760 knowledge through what we're going to talk about today in 107 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:30,400 Jesus name. And everyone said, you know, 108 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:35,840 it's Christmas time. And and Kurt told me that the 109 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:39,600 the theme that he's been thinking about and wanting to 110 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:44,680 share is the Christmas theme of Christmas on Main Street. 111 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:49,400 And I like the idea because this church buildings on Main Street. 112 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:52,160 Amen. It's it's kind of a cool 113 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:54,760 thought. And and you know, when we 114 00:06:55,120 --> 00:07:01,800 purchased this building 13 years ago, we were, we were dirt poor. 115 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:05,760 We didn't have two quarters to rub together. 116 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:08,600 We were struggling. And I, and I'll tell you the 117 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:12,280 story a little bit in a minute. So some of you new, new ones 118 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:17,400 know how significant I think this church is and what God is 119 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:21,800 doing here. But God just made an amazing way 120 00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:24,960 for our new church to be here on Main Street. 121 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:27,320 And there's a reason for that. So we're going to talk about a 122 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:31,720 little bit today. But my, my most famous Bible 123 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:36,200 prophecy, a Bible prophecy is something that's been written 124 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:40,000 way before it's going to happen. And, and there were a lot of 125 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:43,760 prophecies about the coming of Jesus Christ as the Christ 126 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:47,040 child, but as the Messiah. Most of you know that, don't 127 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:49,120 you? And one of them in the Old 128 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:53,560 Testament was written 800 years before Jesus was born. 129 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:56,440 And it's maybe my favorite verse. 130 00:07:56,440 --> 00:08:03,200 And it's found in Isaiah Chapter 9, verse 2, where it says the 131 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:07,200 people walking in darkness have seen a great light on those 132 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:09,320 living in the land of deep darkness. 133 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:13,920 The light has dawned, and then if you jump to verse 6, it says 134 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:19,880 for unto us or to us a child is born, and to us a son is given. 135 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:22,520 And the government will be on his shoulders, and he'll be 136 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:26,080 called wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting 137 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:30,080 Father, the Prince of Peace, of the greatness of his government 138 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:34,080 and peace, there will be no end. Now a lot of you have heard this 139 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:40,720 if you've ever heard Messiah's handle OK 4 unto us a child is 140 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:44,280 given, you know, and if you heard that whole big thing often 141 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:48,480 sing at Christmas time, high schools do it and and in musical 142 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:51,520 events they do this. But it's all this verse about 143 00:08:51,520 --> 00:08:54,800 this king is going to come and that there's it's going to be an 144 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:59,040 incredible government. And then it goes on to say he 145 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:03,440 will reign on David's throne and over his Kingdom, establishing 146 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:08,520 and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time 147 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:13,560 on, whenever that time is and forever, the zeal of the Lord 148 00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:17,480 Almighty will accomplish this. So I just want you to keep that 149 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:21,280 or your finger in it or your little ribbon in that, because 150 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:24,320 we're going to refer back to that in just a minute. 151 00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:27,880 This verse is a Main Street verse. 152 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:31,360 And so when we're thinking of Christmas on Main Street or this 153 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:36,320 church, the I just want to talk about it a little bit. 154 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:40,280 You know, it's kind of interesting being on Main 155 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:42,920 Street. Parking can be a little tough in 156 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:47,680 the winter, can't it? We used to always park over 157 00:09:47,680 --> 00:09:49,480 here, but it's not plowed out all the way. 158 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:52,400 So we're going to park in there today and it's a little tough. 159 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:54,680 But you know, when we were looking at this building, I 160 00:09:54,680 --> 00:09:57,920 walked around and there's actually room for 700 cars 161 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:02,760 within about two blocks. And sometimes you have to walk a 162 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:04,680 little ways. But you know, we're from 163 00:10:04,680 --> 00:10:07,280 northern Michigan and and, and that's OK. 164 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:11,080 But do you know for you new people, when this church began, 165 00:10:11,560 --> 00:10:16,800 we had a group of about 6080 of us and we first met at the AT 166 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:21,240 Siegel Club, the ski hill. Now there's some really benefits 167 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:24,520 in that because we were the only church in the United States to 168 00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:30,720 have a world champion golf course and a swimming pool and 169 00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:34,640 and a Olympic halfpipe because it was during the Vancouver 170 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:37,640 Olympics. And all the Olympic teams are, 171 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:41,640 many of them, New Zealand, Japan, Australia. 172 00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:44,600 Let's see, I think it's Germany and Denmark. 173 00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:48,720 They came and they practice at that Siegel Club because there 174 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:51,600 was only one other Olympic halfpipe in the United States 175 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:55,200 and that was in Aspen, Co. So we would have church in the 176 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:59,680 ballroom and we'd set it up every Sunday morning and some of 177 00:10:59,680 --> 00:11:03,080 these skiers would come in and have church with us. 178 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:06,920 It was so cool. And then we had the champagne 179 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:10,600 brunch after that. Yeah, I'll tell you, it was 180 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:12,880 great. But then they kicked us out in 181 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:16,240 that year and a half a little bit because because of different 182 00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:19,800 events going on there, like snowmobile races and stuff. 183 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:23,000 So then we had to go to the Eagles Hall with a Budweiser 184 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:26,840 sign and awe. And you know, in that time 185 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:30,160 there, 19 people got saved out of that barn. 186 00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:32,840 They would come out of the bar on Sunday mornings while we're 187 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:36,760 doing praise and worship. And isn't it interesting that 188 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:38,600 God can meet people on Main Street? 189 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:44,200 Isn't it interesting that when you let your light shine before 190 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:50,840 other people, a great light has come that lives can be affected 191 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:55,480 so dramatically? It's kind of funny. 192 00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:59,040 I just wanted to do this because this church has grown so much 193 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:02,120 and I know it's a snowy morning and effects people and I did a 194 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:05,640 first service. But how many of you just again 195 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:07,920 moved to Gaylord just in the last couple years? 196 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:11,040 Cool. And you moved, you moved up here 197 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:15,000 and you got jobs up here and you know, you know, you better like 198 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:19,800 the outdoors. I learned that moving up here. 199 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:22,680 I really for the first year and a half, I didn't like Gaylord, 200 00:12:22,680 --> 00:12:26,160 MI at all. And somebody said you have to 201 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:28,840 take up trout fishing and, and deer hunting. 202 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:32,440 So I did both. And I had a lot of great, great 203 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:36,200 memories in the Jordan River and, and, and, and deer hunting 204 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:41,240 around here. And and, but, but you who are 205 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:46,280 new to this community, you bring in a great new fresh air to 206 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:50,480 Gaylord MI God has a purpose for you being here, whether you know 207 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:54,160 it or not, and you bring in a freshness, A newness. 208 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:58,360 When Cheryl and I came in here in 1980, we were from downstate 209 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:02,080 with and gospel singers and, and we were one of the first 210 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:05,520 churches or the first church that did praise and worship like 211 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:08,080 what was done today. Now our songs are really silly 212 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:11,520 and you think they're really stupid, but, but those were the 213 00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:15,360 songs of the day And I played my guitar and we did those that 214 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:20,120 kind of music and, and we really wanted to make a change in 215 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:23,880 Gaylord, Michigan and help them to grow. 216 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:26,960 And you, God has you here for that kind of a purpose. 217 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:29,640 And again, I'm going to talk a little bit more about that. 218 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:36,080 But first today I want to talk about, about, Oh, I know what I 219 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:39,160 want to tell you. So for about two years, we 220 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:42,520 didn't have hardly any money and we're looking for a place to 221 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:47,400 purchase and, and to get. And so this building came 222 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:50,320 available and they wanted $650,000. 223 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:57,240 We offer them 75,000 bucks. We settled at 175,000. 224 00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:00,400 That's how we got into this building. 225 00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:05,440 I personally painted the black on this ceiling myself with one 226 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:08,680 other person. But, but do you know that two 227 00:14:08,680 --> 00:14:11,720 weeks after we bought it, we are offered $1 million from this 228 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:17,400 building and I turned it down. Do you know a month later we are 229 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:21,640 offered $2,000,000 for this building and I turned it down. 230 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:29,240 I was pretty stupid, wasn't I? There was a reason and I'm going 231 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:31,960 to talk about that in just a minute, a minute in the message. 232 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:36,880 First of all, I want to talk about we've all heard this, that 233 00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:40,080 Jesus is our prophet, priest, and king. 234 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:42,400 You've heard that, right? He's our prophet, priest, and 235 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:45,720 king. Well, I want to talk today and 236 00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:49,800 continuing, but I first want to talk about him being our king. 237 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:52,680 And that's the verse, the prophetic verse that I read to 238 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:57,360 you that the Bible says that he's the our king of kings and 239 00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:02,080 Lords of Lords, right? And I want to, I want to ask you 240 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:06,240 a question today. Now most of you in this room 241 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:11,240 have, have, have done a sinner's prayer, an altar call prayer 242 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:15,760 where you said, I believe Jesus died of the cross for my sins 243 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:19,840 and I believe that he rose again and, and, and Lord, I want you 244 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:22,480 to be, I want you to be the Lord of my life. 245 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:27,320 But you know, a lot of people have have said, I believe in 246 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:31,320 Jesus and I've made that declaration, but an awful lot of 247 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:36,120 people I found out in ministry have never made Jesus the King, 248 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:39,720 the Lord of their life. Do you know what I mean? 249 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:44,080 I mean that you really in this day and age and in our culture, 250 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:49,600 your heart's desire, your motivation day-to-day is for 251 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:52,880 your life to be transformed, to live like Jesus wants you to 252 00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:57,040 live it. Where, where not only you make 253 00:15:57,040 --> 00:16:01,320 the declaration, but you, you are allowing God's Word to 254 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:07,120 change you into the person that the Bible says you can be. 255 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:10,840 And you're applying those scriptures in your life from 256 00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:16,960 God's Kingdom to do what Jesus said initially he wanted to come 257 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:20,760 and do John 10/10. He was asked why have you come? 258 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:24,240 And he says the thief has come to kill, steal and destroy. 259 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:28,440 That's Satan. But I've come to give you, you 260 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:31,840 know, the verse life and life more abundantly. 261 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:37,320 That life he's talking about is is here on earth and and 262 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:39,200 applying those scriptures in your life. 263 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:45,120 Some of you people that are here that knew us years ago, years 264 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:49,240 ago, you might not have liked me very much because I had a lot of 265 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:52,120 learning to do. I had a lot of grown to do. 266 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:56,440 I had a lot of change that I need to go through and over the 267 00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:58,960 years there were many things in my life. 268 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:02,200 For instance, some of the old people know this a suicidal 269 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:05,400 depressive for four years when I first started being a pastor 270 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:06,880 here. How would you have liked to 271 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:13,040 heard those sermons you know, and and so I had to look at 272 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:15,760 Scripture and Lord, how do I get out of this? 273 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:20,760 What do I apply in my life and so I have keynote scriptures. 274 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:25,119 Don't you that God has shown you that where you applied those 275 00:17:25,119 --> 00:17:28,240 things. For instance, Psalms 51 created 276 00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:31,760 me a clean heart. O God renewer, a right spirit 277 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:35,560 within me. I mean I have I stood on those 278 00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:40,320 scriptures or Philippians chapter 4 be anxious for 279 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:43,400 nothing. The whole area of anxiety, but 280 00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:47,800 make all your needs known unto God with Thanksgiving. 281 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:52,640 So after you come before the Lord with all your crap and all 282 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:56,160 your struggles, your inner struggles and your shortcomings 283 00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:58,560 and your insecurity or whatever it is you're going through, 284 00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:03,160 where you ask the Lord Jesus to take over in your life and you 285 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:06,280 begin to praise him and thank him in advance for what he's 286 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:09,080 going to do. And then it goes on to say, and 287 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:17,120 the peace of God that passes understanding will not mind will 288 00:18:17,120 --> 00:18:19,600 come into your hearts and mind. Why don't we do that? 289 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:23,240 And then it goes on to say whatsoever things are pure and 290 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:25,800 honest and I'm good report, think on those things. 291 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:30,800 Instead of watching Fox News, why don't we do that? 292 00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:35,360 See, there's application in the word of God, in the Kingdom of 293 00:18:35,360 --> 00:18:39,440 God that can transform your life if you're willing. 294 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:47,680 In John chapter 18, verse 37 at the end of this whole passage, 295 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:52,400 starting with 33, but we're going to jump right down to 37. 296 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:58,360 That pilot is questioning Jesus in his last week of life and 297 00:18:58,360 --> 00:19:00,320 saying, are you really the king of the Jews? 298 00:19:00,840 --> 00:19:02,440 What what kind of Kingdom are you doing? 299 00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:05,680 He's kind of mocking him, but maybe he's serious too. 300 00:19:06,120 --> 00:19:09,920 And and Jesus said my Kingdom is not of this world. 301 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:15,000 If it were, my servants would fight to keep me from being 302 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:20,320 arrested and all this stuff. But but he said everyone on the 303 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:23,080 side of truth. In other words, everyone in my 304 00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:29,040 Kingdom listens to me. So do you listen to Him? 305 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:36,640 Have you really made Him not only your Savior, but is He the 306 00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:41,240 Lord of your earthly life? And if he is, He will change you 307 00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:43,840 from glory to glory and grace to grace. 308 00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:47,560 Now, even though the Bible says we go from glory to glory and 309 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:50,400 grace to grace, you know, between each glory it can be a 310 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:53,000 real valley. You know what I mean? 311 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:56,600 There can be struggles. We've had struggles which I 312 00:19:56,600 --> 00:20:00,800 won't go into today, but but if you want the benefits of the 313 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:05,240 Kingdom of God on this side of heaven, you have to make him 314 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:08,680 your King. So let me ask you a question 315 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:13,640 today. Is he is Jesus the one you 316 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:16,400 follow and submit to even in our culture? 317 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:22,680 Is is his word the governing guide for your life? 318 00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:27,960 Good question to ask. Well, then it says that he's a 319 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:30,120 priest. What does that mean? 320 00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:33,360 Well, if you want to grab your Bibles and we're going to look 321 00:20:33,360 --> 00:20:37,280 into the book of Hebrews, I'll give you a minute to turn there 322 00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:44,560 and we're going to go to Chapter 9, verse 11, Hebrews 9/11. 323 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:49,080 I'm reading from the NIV version, and this is talking 324 00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:51,760 about the priesthood. Now, if you don't know what the 325 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:55,840 priesthood is, this isn't like a Catholic priest, all right? 326 00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:59,120 This is a Jewish priest. And in the Jewish temple, they 327 00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:02,960 had one temple, or Tabernacle, they called it, where they would 328 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:05,720 offer sacrifices. Most of you know what I'm 329 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:08,600 talking about. And you would bring in a calf or 330 00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:12,440 a dove or whatever, and you'd bring it in to sacrifice it for 331 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:15,640 your sins or for your family. And you'd have a priest 332 00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:20,880 represent you before the Lord. And, and the reason you couldn't 333 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:22,920 go before the Lord is you're too sinful. 334 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:28,560 You're just bad to the bone and, and God wanted to have a 335 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:32,320 relationship with his people. So the only way to do this was 336 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:36,800 through a priest and, and the, the, the lambs that were slain 337 00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:40,440 or the calves represented the Messiah who's going to come 338 00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:43,560 Jesus Christ. Well, the Bible says that Jesus 339 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:45,880 is our priest. Well, it's and and in the book 340 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:51,800 of Hebrews he is this is written to Hebrew Christians so they 341 00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:54,880 understand this and I'm going to try to help you understand it. 342 00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:59,360 Let's look at verse 11. Hebrews 9 says Ben, when when 343 00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:03,600 Christ came as high priest of the good things that now we're 344 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:05,800 experiencing are now already here. 345 00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:09,760 He went through the greater and more perfect Tabernacle that is 346 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:13,640 not made with human hands. That, it is is to say, is not 347 00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:17,520 part of this creation. He did not enter by the means of 348 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:20,960 goats, the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the most 349 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:26,720 Holy Place, that's the Holy of Holies, once for all by His own 350 00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:31,240 blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. 351 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:33,880 In other words, that He bought us back from sin. 352 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:38,000 OK, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer 353 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:42,680 sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean, sanctify 354 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:45,400 them so that they're outwardly clean. 355 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:49,440 How much more than will the blood of Christ, who through the 356 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:53,320 eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse 357 00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:58,640 their consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may 358 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:01,960 serve the living God. For this reason, Christ is the 359 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:05,960 mediator of a new covenant that that those who are called may 360 00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:11,640 receive the promised eternal inheritance now that he has died 361 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:16,760 as a ransom to set us free from the sins committed under the 362 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:19,320 first covenant. In other words, what Jesus did 363 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:23,680 as priest, he made a way so God can have relationship with you 364 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:28,560 once again and so that you can have relationship with him. 365 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:34,800 So and then Hebrews, it also says that he stands as the 366 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:38,720 mediator between God and man. So think about in Revelation, 367 00:23:39,120 --> 00:23:42,240 John has a vision of Jesus as the king in heaven, but the 368 00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:44,560 marks are still in his hands and his side. 369 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:49,600 So when you come before the Lord in prayer, Father God and you 370 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:53,640 say, Father God, I need help with my finances or I need help 371 00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:56,760 with my faith or I'm, I'm really depressed today. 372 00:23:56,760 --> 00:23:58,560 Lord, I need some healing in my life. 373 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:06,000 Jesus is there, and Father God sees you through Jesus to the 374 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:09,680 scars in his hand and his side, the blood that was slain. 375 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:14,280 And the Bible says even though your sins be read as scarlet, 376 00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:19,040 they're white as well. So Paul writes about this to the 377 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:23,280 Romans and says, you and I now can boldly go before Father God, 378 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:27,920 the throne of grace, to find help in our time of need. 379 00:24:28,120 --> 00:24:32,640 The Bible says to pray at all times, in all situations, in all 380 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:39,280 circumstances about anything and when it when it is part of God's 381 00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:42,640 plan for your life, then anything will become everything. 382 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:48,360 It's transforming in your life when you depend on him and, and 383 00:24:48,360 --> 00:24:52,080 you see the great things that God does and people that live 384 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:54,200 for him. Coming back and having been here 385 00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:58,120 for so many years, it's fun talking to the Vooks and, and 386 00:24:58,120 --> 00:25:02,720 Bonnie and Catherine and Jan and the people that have been here 387 00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:07,520 for years and to see what God has done, to see how you have 388 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:11,440 stood in faith and see what the things that God has done. 389 00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:15,680 But it also can wound our heart when we know people who walked 390 00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:18,880 away from the Lord as well and gave up on it. 391 00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:21,520 And I'm telling you, God has a better plan. 392 00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:27,200 Jesus is your priest and he made a way for you to have an amazing 393 00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:32,480 relationship with Father God as your priest. 394 00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:36,400 And it's a priesthood that that will never die. 395 00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:41,600 So you can go before the Lord even in our weaknesses that 396 00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:45,360 Father God loves you. Well, we have a big movement at 397 00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:48,440 the church we're in now that about the prodigal son. 398 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:53,760 You know the story and that how the sun ran away from from his 399 00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:57,160 father and then he came back after being in the pigpen. 400 00:25:57,960 --> 00:25:59,320 I've been in the pig bend before. 401 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:03,200 How about you? And what a wonderful thing that 402 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:06,640 even though you might have screwed up in your life and 403 00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:10,920 maybe you are still today, you can come to the Lord and he 404 00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:16,320 embraces you as a loving father and welcomes you to be a first 405 00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:19,400 born child of God. The Bible says you're a joint 406 00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:22,640 heir with Christ. I like that inheritance, don't 407 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:25,560 you? God's got great plans for you. 408 00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:28,720 If you think you're all done, you're not done yet. 409 00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:31,080 He's got a great plan for your life. 410 00:26:31,360 --> 00:26:36,040 And so Jesus is our priest. Well, the third thing it says is 411 00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:39,800 that he's our prophet, prophet, priest and king. 412 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:45,840 Well, prophet is somebody that gives people God's guidance for 413 00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:48,920 them. And sometimes it includes the 414 00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:52,080 past, sometimes it forecasts the future. 415 00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:58,440 And, and but it, it, it, it guides us on the path to take. 416 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:04,880 In fact, in Matthew chapter 2111, that that when Jesus was 417 00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:10,560 ministering, it says the crowd screamed out, this is Jesus, the 418 00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:14,000 prophet from Nazareth in Galilee. 419 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:17,240 And and so it's the voice of God speaking from God. 420 00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:21,920 And this is what Jesus did. Well, Jesus prophesied all kind 421 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:25,400 of things, even about the church today and what was going to 422 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:28,200 happen in the last days. He prophesied what was going to 423 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:31,920 happen in Jerusalem, that the temple was going to be destroyed 424 00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:36,600 and it was destroyed just 30 years after he died and that 425 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:39,960 that in the last days that Israel would be regathered. 426 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:43,640 He prophesied about what God was going to do in the church and 427 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:45,560 when when he was going to come back. 428 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:50,680 He prophesied what God can do in your life even today. 429 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:54,360 You know the book of John, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, 430 00:27:54,360 --> 00:27:57,720 everybody says if the first book you should read is the book of 431 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:01,360 John because it tells you about who Jesus was. 432 00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:05,720 You know it begins, it says in the beginning was the the word 433 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:08,880 and the word was God and the word was with God and nothing 434 00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:12,240 was made that was made without him and it was Jesus. 435 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:15,840 Did you know that Jesus was preexistent before he was born? 436 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:20,720 He was the Son of God before and there's many different 437 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:22,360 appearances in the Old Testament. 438 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:26,200 They call them Theophanies, where who we know as Jesus the 439 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:31,040 Christ actually appeared like to Abraham and Sarah the Lord and 440 00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:33,480 two angels above Sodom and Gomorrah. 441 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:37,520 That was probably Jesus who he became known as Jesus once he 442 00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:46,280 was born of God and man and that that that he was this amazing 443 00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:51,520 prophet who prophesied what he was going to do in our life. 444 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:55,840 For instance, he said I have come to seek and save those who 445 00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:59,000 are lost. He forecasted the future. 446 00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:03,840 He said unless you are born again, you can't enter the 447 00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:07,760 Kingdom of God. He was forecasting he would talk 448 00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:09,920 about what the Kingdom of heaven is like. 449 00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:14,480 He was prophesying. He said given, it shall be given 450 00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:17,000 unto you. Press down, shaken together and 451 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:19,840 running over. He was prophesying and there's 452 00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:23,520 verse after verse where he is prophesying. 453 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:29,480 The words of Jesus always give hope for your future for you as 454 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:35,120 his Father, God's child. But he's also fulfilling 455 00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:40,880 fulfilling prophecies that were given 3000 years ago and 2000 456 00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:45,600 years ago still today in the Old Testament. 457 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:49,560 Prophetically, God promised blessings for those who followed 458 00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:52,480 him and that his people would be cursed if they didn't. 459 00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:56,680 You can read books like Deuteronomy chapters 26 and 28 460 00:29:56,680 --> 00:30:01,720 and learn about the blessings in cursings and Joshua said choose 461 00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:07,160 this day who you will serve in Joshua chapter 1 and and because 462 00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:12,760 God will bless you when you do life his way and you can expect 463 00:30:12,960 --> 00:30:16,880 God's empowerment. Do you know the second book I 464 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:19,800 think you ought to read after the book of John is the book of 465 00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:23,760 Ephesians because it's only 6 chapters long. 466 00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:28,040 But in the first 3 chapters it tells you the power that a 467 00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:34,480 Christian can have if you buy in the presence of God, the Holy 468 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:38,120 Spirit of you. Ephesians 117 says the 469 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:43,720 incomparable great power for those of us who believe we 470 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:47,320 experienced it here in Gaylord. We experienced it with getting 471 00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:53,240 this building for a song and being offered $2,000,000 a month 472 00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:58,040 later. We experienced God's prophetic 473 00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:05,160 call upon N Life Church those few years ago. 474 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:11,920 And, and you know, I had an associate 25 years ago who had 475 00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:15,200 next door in the tattoo parlor right through this wall. 476 00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:19,320 He had a, he had a place called his place and it was a skate 477 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:22,680 park. Were any of you at an age where 478 00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:24,560 you skated in that little skate park? 479 00:31:26,120 --> 00:31:28,800 Did you know that he walked around this building and it was 480 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:30,560 empty? This had been a movie theater 481 00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:37,400 and then a furniture place and he claimed this for Jesus Christ 482 00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:44,200 as a church and he came to me out out there and on church row 483 00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:46,520 and said, pastor, we need to sell our property in the 484 00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:50,080 building. God wants us to be at the movie 485 00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:51,680 theater. I know it's God. 486 00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:54,680 It's a word from the Lord and we need to move there. 487 00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:59,400 I thought it was crazy. Well, guess where we are today. 488 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:02,640 God made way. Do you know that under this 489 00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:06,560 floor there are movie seats? This used to be sloping and that 490 00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:09,560 there's like 150 movie seats under this floor. 491 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:13,760 Do you know that? And God got us in here. 492 00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:18,200 It was prophetic for North Life Church to be here. 493 00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:24,200 The word was spoken and God just did it another way. 494 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:27,720 I was too stubborn to move. God just made it happen. 495 00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:31,960 So I really believe the church is here and you're here for such 496 00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:35,400 a time as this. There was a purpose for North 497 00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:37,200 Life to be here. So I'm going to ask you a 498 00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:40,240 question today. So what are you going to do with 499 00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:45,200 it? I mean, this is a saying we have 500 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:46,880 at our new church where we're at now. 501 00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:52,480 A church is not a building you go to, it's a family you belong 502 00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:55,320 to. Why don't you hear it again? 503 00:32:55,560 --> 00:32:58,560 A church is not a building you go to, it's a family you belong 504 00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:00,880 to. I've been watching today, my 505 00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:04,040 wife's been watching. And between the two services, 506 00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:08,440 man family's happening. Wow, there's a lot of fellowship 507 00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:11,240 going on. There's a lot of there's a 508 00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:14,000 wonderful feeling and synergy. Can you feel it? 509 00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:20,040 And the group between services, I mean, that's, that's Koinonia. 510 00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:24,360 That's the spirit of God moving in people and, and, and there's 511 00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:27,880 a purpose and a reason that you're here. 512 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:35,720 God's placed you here for such a time as this and, and I'm going 513 00:33:35,720 --> 00:33:37,840 to ask you another difficult question. 514 00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:43,000 I know some of you are new, but if N Life Church disappeared 515 00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:45,640 from Otsego County, would it be missed? 516 00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:49,160 You're on Main Street for a reason. 517 00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:54,320 This is not an accident. God has you on Main Street to 518 00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:58,560 have an effect in the biggest and about the only town in this 519 00:33:58,560 --> 00:34:00,760 county. I mean, there's some other 520 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:02,160 little towns, but you know what I mean? 521 00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:06,680 And, and you're a part of that and you're an active part of 522 00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:09,320 this family. And, and if you want to be and 523 00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:15,920 God has a call on each and every one of your lives and to be part 524 00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:21,400 of this family. Ephesians 117 through 18 talks 525 00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:24,800 about the incredible empowerment, the empower, the 526 00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:29,199 power that's in your life. If you follow him and his way of 527 00:34:29,199 --> 00:34:33,880 life, it's been prophesied. And as you apply that and let 528 00:34:33,880 --> 00:34:36,800 your light shine, you can have an amazing effect. 529 00:34:37,040 --> 00:34:40,159 We're at our church down downstate. 530 00:34:40,159 --> 00:34:45,000 We're right across from Menards if you go by Big Rapids, and 531 00:34:45,239 --> 00:34:47,480 we're about a mile from Ferris College. 532 00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:51,440 And I don't know if you follow Ferris football, but Ferris just 533 00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:57,000 won their third playoff game and a large portion of the team 534 00:34:57,000 --> 00:35:01,920 comes to our church and they're getting saved in droves. 535 00:35:02,760 --> 00:35:06,320 They're running back three weeks ago was crying in church. 536 00:35:06,960 --> 00:35:14,240 My my son Ross used to came from Gaylord soaked my son's shirt 537 00:35:14,720 --> 00:35:18,120 before the 3rd service is just covered with tears and he was 538 00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:21,080 crying because he wasn't getting many yards in the football game. 539 00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:24,240 The next game he got 12 yards of carry. 540 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:29,680 He was a lot more excited. But they had a playoff game last 541 00:35:29,680 --> 00:35:31,600 week and they couldn't go home from Thanksgiving. 542 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:36,440 So our church provided Thanksgiving, 20 turkeys for the 543 00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:43,040 team. We're there, our church, and 544 00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:47,520 this is not what I've done. This is what they established is 545 00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:52,640 taking Jesus to their community and they're, they're involved 546 00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:55,840 and they're helping and they're assisting and they're letting 547 00:35:55,840 --> 00:35:59,960 their light shine and all kind of different ways they do the 548 00:35:59,960 --> 00:36:05,960 police giveaway at our Church of Christmas gifts they do to needy 549 00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:08,960 families. There's so many things that you 550 00:36:08,960 --> 00:36:12,040 can do as individuals, but as a church family. 551 00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:15,120 You know why? Because you're on Main Street 552 00:36:15,880 --> 00:36:19,640 and have a tremendous effect. God has placed you here. 553 00:36:20,400 --> 00:36:24,400 See, Christmas is so much more than just a baby in a Manger. 554 00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:30,160 It, it changed the possibilities for you, for mankind, for all 555 00:36:30,160 --> 00:36:33,680 eternity. As a prophet, he offers you a 556 00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:37,480 future, now and forever. As a priest, he offers the 557 00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:41,680 perfect sacrifice. So God is not separated from you 558 00:36:41,680 --> 00:36:44,640 anymore and you're not separated from him. 559 00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:51,640 And as your king, he's offering you a better way of life, so 560 00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:55,280 much better than what our crazy culture and world is 561 00:36:55,280 --> 00:36:57,240 experiencing. You know, it's really 562 00:36:57,240 --> 00:37:03,360 interesting that the college and fairs is experiencing spiritual 563 00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:06,400 revival. I don't know if you saw the 564 00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:10,680 Indiana game last night. Woo Hoo. 565 00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:17,000 Sorry you from Ohio, but the quarterback and their leading 566 00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:19,960 receiver gave all glory to Jesus Christ. 567 00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:25,040 There's revival happening the the at Ferris College. 568 00:37:25,320 --> 00:37:28,600 People are coming to Christ in droves. 569 00:37:28,800 --> 00:37:31,960 One of the big fraternities there, they're all getting saved 570 00:37:31,960 --> 00:37:34,760 and their goal is to get their whole frat saved. 571 00:37:35,520 --> 00:37:39,040 And we had 15 first time salvations 2 weeks ago. 572 00:37:39,040 --> 00:37:43,520 I run the salvation room. I call it the cry room and they 573 00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:46,680 come in and I share the next steps for somebody when they 574 00:37:46,680 --> 00:37:49,280 accept Christ. The college kids are getting 575 00:37:49,280 --> 00:37:52,800 saved like crazy that there was a girl in there that was 6 foot 576 00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:56,320 4 that was getting saved. I said to you, are you are you 577 00:37:56,320 --> 00:37:58,720 going to fair? She said, yeah, I said you must 578 00:37:58,720 --> 00:38:00,600 play on the basketball or volleyball team. 579 00:38:00,600 --> 00:38:04,160 She said, yeah, I play in the volleyball team and she received 580 00:38:04,200 --> 00:38:08,000 Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Revivals happening at one of our 581 00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:09,600 colleges. Isn't that cool? 582 00:38:10,640 --> 00:38:12,160 And they're coming to Christ in droves. 583 00:38:12,160 --> 00:38:15,440 It's so much fun. It can happen here in Gaylord 584 00:38:15,440 --> 00:38:17,760 too. Because I want to share some 585 00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:21,920 statistics with you about Gaylord, MI. 586 00:38:23,040 --> 00:38:27,160 According to the Association of Religion Data Archives, there 587 00:38:27,160 --> 00:38:33,760 are now 25,000 people who live in this county. 7000 are 588 00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:37,520 Christians. Let that sink in. 589 00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:44,040 There's 25,000 people and only 7000 claim to be Christians. 590 00:38:47,320 --> 00:38:51,280 There's 24 churches. That means if you averaged it 591 00:38:51,280 --> 00:38:56,480 out, each church has 291 people regularly attending. 592 00:38:56,960 --> 00:39:04,080 Not you know that's not true. This is probably and and and I 593 00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:07,960 research it is probably the third or fourth largest 594 00:39:07,960 --> 00:39:09,800 attendance in the county this morning. 595 00:39:09,960 --> 00:39:15,280 This church with both services at least that means that at 596 00:39:15,280 --> 00:39:20,040 least 3/4 of this county are not part of a church family and we 597 00:39:20,040 --> 00:39:22,400 can assume that there's some that stay home. 598 00:39:22,400 --> 00:39:26,560 That's why we broadcast this over the Internet, but that 599 00:39:26,560 --> 00:39:30,240 there's at least 1/2 do not follow Jesus in any way. 600 00:39:31,520 --> 00:39:35,920 What a mission field. Guess why you're on Main Street? 601 00:39:37,320 --> 00:39:42,000 To let your light so shine among men that they too will come to 602 00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:44,840 Christ. Because don't you know they need 603 00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:47,000 it today? Amen. 604 00:39:49,120 --> 00:39:50,920 Studies that are recently been done. 605 00:39:50,920 --> 00:39:54,640 It's all over the news that that young people are having a 606 00:39:54,640 --> 00:39:59,240 spiritual revival, that they are coming to Christ in droves on 607 00:39:59,240 --> 00:40:02,480 college campuses. Actually, Ohio State's football 608 00:40:02,480 --> 00:40:06,480 team for the last two years have led over 2000 college kids from 609 00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:10,160 Ohio State to the Lord. They've had great revival on 610 00:40:10,160 --> 00:40:13,200 their team. There's amazing things that are 611 00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:17,240 happening in the sports world but also in the schools because 612 00:40:17,240 --> 00:40:21,360 people are hungry for the truth. Guess what? 613 00:40:22,240 --> 00:40:25,720 You're on Main Street and you get to have that effect. 614 00:40:27,040 --> 00:40:29,760 It's fun for us to see. And I know it's a snowy morning, 615 00:40:29,760 --> 00:40:31,880 but you have kids throughout the building. 616 00:40:32,320 --> 00:40:35,400 The church has grown a lot since Cheryl and I left. 617 00:40:37,080 --> 00:40:41,480 People are hungry, you know. And, and you know what's really 618 00:40:41,480 --> 00:40:43,200 fascinating? I don't know if a lot of you 619 00:40:43,200 --> 00:40:46,400 young people know this who are new, but you've got the greatest 620 00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:50,160 pastor and his wife. I knew them a long time ago. 621 00:40:50,160 --> 00:40:55,960 And Kurt didn't have Gray hair. And then and we were blown away 622 00:40:55,960 --> 00:40:59,040 seven years ago when God brought him into our our life. 623 00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:02,800 I was looking for an associate and that I, I couldn't believe 624 00:41:02,800 --> 00:41:06,560 it when I got a phone call from my son downstate and said, hey, 625 00:41:06,560 --> 00:41:09,560 guess who's coming to see if you need an associate. 626 00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:14,320 I never thought Gaylord would be so blessed to have Kurt and Jace 627 00:41:14,320 --> 00:41:18,800 here. And here they are God that is 628 00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:22,240 prophetic. You are you are here as such a 629 00:41:22,240 --> 00:41:27,480 time as this and you have a great opportunity to have an 630 00:41:27,480 --> 00:41:31,680 amazing impact in Northern Michigan and Michigan. 631 00:41:31,680 --> 00:41:34,640 And Gaylord and you folks that have been here for a long time, 632 00:41:34,640 --> 00:41:39,600 thanks for thanks for all that you've done, your great 633 00:41:39,600 --> 00:41:42,960 leadership in the past and your support in the past and your 634 00:41:42,960 --> 00:41:47,840 support today. There's a great future for this 635 00:41:48,240 --> 00:41:51,560 church. So I want you to think about 636 00:41:51,560 --> 00:41:54,680 this today. What can you do as part of this 637 00:41:54,680 --> 00:42:00,600 family to proclaim Jesus where you work, where you live in this 638 00:42:00,600 --> 00:42:05,400 community? Where can you proclaim to people 639 00:42:05,400 --> 00:42:10,160 you know here? For unto us a child is born, and 640 00:42:10,160 --> 00:42:14,480 unto us a son is given. And if you follow him, your life 641 00:42:14,480 --> 00:42:19,200 will never be the same, and it will change in such a positive, 642 00:42:19,400 --> 00:42:23,640 awesome way. I want to encourage you to do 643 00:42:23,640 --> 00:42:28,560 that because Jesus said I've come to seek and to save those 644 00:42:28,560 --> 00:42:31,040 who are lost. And according to statistics, 645 00:42:31,640 --> 00:42:33,920 well over half this county is lost. 646 00:42:34,800 --> 00:42:37,520 And you work with them. You teach them. 647 00:42:39,840 --> 00:42:46,480 You fill their gas tanks, you clean their houses, you paint 648 00:42:46,480 --> 00:42:51,040 their rooms, you work in their businesses, and they're 649 00:42:51,040 --> 00:42:54,840 searching too. Let's pray. 650 00:42:54,880 --> 00:43:00,320 Father God, we thank you so much for what you came to do, that 651 00:43:00,320 --> 00:43:06,640 you had such a love for people, no matter what walk of life, no 652 00:43:06,640 --> 00:43:11,440 matter how bad they were, no matter how good they were. 653 00:43:12,480 --> 00:43:15,880 You want to have a relationship with your greatest creation man. 654 00:43:17,720 --> 00:43:24,240 And so you sent your Son Jesus to die in our place so that we 655 00:43:24,240 --> 00:43:28,720 can have what we have here and today, and so our life could 656 00:43:29,080 --> 00:43:32,280 continually go from glory to glory and grace to grace. 657 00:43:32,600 --> 00:43:35,920 That if we're open to you to follow you and, and make you the 658 00:43:35,920 --> 00:43:39,560 Lord of our life and apply it in our lives, that we can come out 659 00:43:39,560 --> 00:43:43,560 of bad stuff and difficult situations and we can become 660 00:43:43,560 --> 00:43:46,880 better for it and we can grow by it and we can, we can have 661 00:43:46,880 --> 00:43:51,200 deeper understanding and our life will take on a joy that we 662 00:43:51,200 --> 00:43:55,960 never knew was possible. But Father, I pray that you put 663 00:43:55,960 --> 00:44:00,040 a call on each individual. There's a call on this church on 664 00:44:00,040 --> 00:44:04,320 Main Street, but that each one of us would be a part and that 665 00:44:04,320 --> 00:44:08,240 would not be afraid to share Christ and and wherever we're at 666 00:44:08,240 --> 00:44:12,840 and invite people to be a part of the family of God, a place 667 00:44:12,840 --> 00:44:17,960 where you can grow and be nurtured in advance in faith and 668 00:44:17,960 --> 00:44:24,880 hope in healing. Father, I pray that you guide 669 00:44:24,880 --> 00:44:29,320 Curtin Jason, the leadership here to be the people of God 670 00:44:30,240 --> 00:44:34,760 that you've called them to be and that they would teach wisely 671 00:44:35,640 --> 00:44:39,200 and train up all these people and the kids and how they should 672 00:44:39,200 --> 00:44:43,480 go. And Father, also, I lift up 673 00:44:43,480 --> 00:44:48,800 anybody in this room who not only do not know you as Lord and 674 00:44:48,800 --> 00:44:51,400 Savior, and there might be a couple in a in a group this 675 00:44:51,400 --> 00:44:55,240 large, but Lord, if they've walked away from you being the 676 00:44:55,240 --> 00:44:58,560 Lord of their life, maybe they've asked you to be their 677 00:44:58,560 --> 00:45:02,840 savior, but they've walked away or they've never really said, 678 00:45:02,840 --> 00:45:07,200 Lord, I want you to be my king. I want to follow you. 679 00:45:08,160 --> 00:45:13,560 It's time I change my life and follow your word. 680 00:45:15,120 --> 00:45:17,320 Lord, change me. This is you. 681 00:45:18,240 --> 00:45:22,360 Here's an easy prayer. Lord, change me and make me into 682 00:45:22,360 --> 00:45:26,600 the person that you know I can be. 683 00:45:28,040 --> 00:45:37,320 And I surrender my life to you, not only as my Savior, but I ask 684 00:45:37,320 --> 00:45:41,400 you to be my king and my Lord, and lead and guide me. 685 00:45:43,040 --> 00:45:45,640 And if that's you today, just so I can see with every eye closed, 686 00:45:45,840 --> 00:45:49,000 just raise a hand. There's a hand, there's a hand. 687 00:45:51,480 --> 00:45:55,640 Anybody else, there's a hand. Father God, you saw those hands. 688 00:45:55,640 --> 00:45:59,000 And Lord, I pray that you'd guide and direct them that as 689 00:45:59,000 --> 00:46:02,560 they read the book of Ephesians, it's only 6 short chapters that 690 00:46:02,560 --> 00:46:07,320 you'd speak to them in it. Lord, guide them and direct them 691 00:46:07,320 --> 00:46:11,040 in their conscience and in the moves they make each and every 692 00:46:11,040 --> 00:46:13,840 day of their life. Remind them of the Bible verses 693 00:46:13,840 --> 00:46:15,880 that will encourage them and change them. 694 00:46:17,720 --> 00:46:21,040 And we give you praise Lord, for our future because it's been 695 00:46:21,040 --> 00:46:24,280 prophesied. We thank you for this church. 696 00:46:25,080 --> 00:46:26,840 We give you praise in Jesus name. 697 00:46:26,840 --> 00:46:30,160 And everyone said Amen. Thank you for letting me share 698 00:46:30,160 --> 00:46:35,520 with you today. Wonderful. 699 00:46:36,200 --> 00:46:38,400 OK, let's all stand together. Pastor Steve, again, thank you 700 00:46:38,400 --> 00:46:40,800 so much for being here with us. And Cheryl, thank you. 701 00:46:41,280 --> 00:46:43,280 It's such a great. I always look forward to having 702 00:46:43,280 --> 00:46:46,800 our founding pastor back. It's just such a healthy church 703 00:46:46,800 --> 00:46:50,600 that continues to honor those who've sown so greatly. 704 00:46:50,600 --> 00:46:52,120 And so again, thank you for being here. 705 00:46:52,120 --> 00:46:54,440 It's so wonderful. All right, before you go, I want 706 00:46:54,440 --> 00:46:56,960 to say a blessing over you to send you into your week. 707 00:46:57,160 --> 00:46:59,480 So if you would prepare your heart to receive this blessing 708 00:46:59,480 --> 00:47:04,000 before you go. And now may the Lord bless you 709 00:47:04,400 --> 00:47:08,640 and keep you, and may He make his face to shine upon you. 710 00:47:09,360 --> 00:47:12,800 And may the joy of the Lord that is unspeakable and full of glory 711 00:47:12,800 --> 00:47:16,000 made a bound to you. And may the peace of God that 712 00:47:16,000 --> 00:47:19,680 passes all understanding, may it surprise you in the midst of all 713 00:47:19,680 --> 00:47:21,640 of the challenges that life brings. 714 00:47:22,120 --> 00:47:24,600 And then may the mercies of the Lord, in other words, the 715 00:47:24,600 --> 00:47:27,360 forgiveness of God, that is new every morning. 716 00:47:27,360 --> 00:47:30,480 May it be especially new to you now and your mornings to come. 717 00:47:30,760 --> 00:47:33,680 And now, may the Lord Jesus Christ guard your heart and your 718 00:47:33,680 --> 00:47:36,600 mind. You are salt and you are light. 719 00:47:36,680 --> 00:47:38,880 Go now and be salt and light into the world. 720 00:47:39,120 --> 00:47:41,200 You are blessed. We'll see you again soon. 721 00:47:41,200 --> 00:47:42,240 Merry Christmas.