Good morning everybody, great day to be in the House of God.
It real pretty outside 4 announcements.
I don't have anything really for next week except for I'm going
to let Brother Brad make an announcement after I finished
this, but Nancy and Charles wanted me to read this thank you
note to the church it's addressed to, Utica Christian
Church. Thank you so much for allowing
us to use your beautiful church for our 59th class reunion.
Everything was perfect and the right size for us.
Please accept our donation and we hope to have another one in
the future. God bless you class of 1967.
Thank you, Nancy. Thank you, Joel.
So anybody got anything they need to add in the congregation?
Any announcements from anybody? If not, I'll let Brother Brad
speak. Yeah.
Just wanted to remind you that Friday morning at 11 AM we have
memorial service for Mr. Sam Weeks Curry and we'll have
visitation will be from 10:50 in.
The service will start at 11 here in the sanctuary and Miss
Patricia is hopefully today moving to Methodist Rehab has
been in the hospital off and on for the last two, two weeks or
so. But it's hopefully moving to
Methodist and and going to start regaining some some strength.
So we're just be in prayer for her.
That's all happening. Wouldn't continue with our
service ladies. Please stand turn in your
Worship hymnals to number 641, America the Beautiful.
We will sing all four verses. for Call to Worship today.
Went with the theme Illumination.
It's in a lot of scriptures and Bible verses but I just I picked
this one out. It's from John chapter 8 verse
12. It says when Jesus spoke again
to the people he said I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have
the light of life. What did Jesus mean I am the
light of the world? Jesus is saying He brings truth,
hope and direction to everyone, not just one group.
What does he mean whoever follows me?
Anyone, child, team, adult who chooses to trust and obey Him?
What about we'll never walk in darkness?
Darkness represents confusion, sin, fear and separation from
God. What about we'll have the light
of life? Jesus gives us guidance,
purpose, peace and eternal life, what God wants us to learn.
Without him we can get lost in wrong choices, confusion, fear.
God is reminding us we cannot navigate life alone.
Many things promise happiness, money, popularity, success, but
only Jesus gives us lasting peace and truth.
God wants us to put Him first, not temporary things.
It's not just knowing about Him, it's listening to Him, trusting
Him, leaving his way. Light up.
Light only helps if we walk in it.
How we apply this today. Tell the truth even when it's
hard. Be kind to others.
Pray when you feel scared. Walking in Jesus.
Jesus's light means making good choices.
Choose friends and influences wisely.
Stand firm in your faith. Don't follow the crowd into the
wrong behavior. Light means courage to do the
right what's right. Make decisions guided by prayer
and scripture. Show integrity at work and at
home. Be a source of encouragement to
others. Light means living with purpose
and example. You may want to ask yourself, is
this leading me closer to God or in in or Into Darkness?
Today, many people feel overwhelmed by bad news,
conflict in communities, uncertainty about the future.
It can feel like the world is getting darker.
Jesus reminds us that darkness never wins over light.
Even when the world feels unstable, truth still exists.
Hope still exists. God is still in control.
Instead of spreading fear, spread hope.
Instead of reaching in anger, respond with love.
Instead of feeling lost, seek God's guidance.
You become a reflection of Christ's light in dark
situations. You may ask yourself again,
where do I see darkness in my life right now?
Am I truly following Jesus or just knowing about Him?
How can I bring His light into my home, school, or workplace?
Who needs to see God's light through me?
Light doesn't shout, it simply shines.
When we follow Jesus, our lives quietly show others the way.
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we we thank you
for being the light of of the world.
Help us to follow you every day so we don't walk in darkness.
Teach us to shine your light in our words, actions, and choices.
Use us to bring hope to others in a world that needs you, as
you taught us to say, praying. Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day Our Daily
Bread, and give us our debts as we give our debtors, and lead us
not into temptation. But there are some evil.
But thou is the Kingdom, and the power and the glory forever.
Amen. Please stand.
Turn to number 646, My country tis of thee.
We'll do the first, second, and fourth verse.
Amen. You may be seated before we go
in the morning prayer. I do want to say thank you to
everyone who was involved with VBS, with providing food, with
cooking, with those who helped with the decorations.
Young people did a fantastic job, not only with the
decorating, but also with helping with crafts, with games,
getting them to class and staying in class.
Emilyn is not here to Emilyn had a a child that latched on to her
like she was the greatest thing ever and, and she went with her
everywhere. And I just, I do appreciate
Emilyn for that. And then when Brooklyn was here,
she had Brooklyn and this other, this little girl's name was
Emmy, but they were with her each side wherever they went.
Claire Camille, y'all did a fantastic job.
Macy, thank you very much. It you know, it was just an
encouraging thing for me because honestly, I didn't have to do
anything and I loved it. They did it all Martha, Katie,
Grace talk. Macy led the music.
So we just had we had a great time.
We averaged about 18 to 20 each evening.
And I will say I've got next week we're picking up 4 young
where's Chuck where'd Chuck go Chuck is going to pick up four
children for us next week. So we are encouraged by that had
a great time. And as you do know, we our our
focus was Jesus is the light of the world, which I know that you
remember my sermon from last week and how enlightening it was
to you, right. OK.
As we go Lord in prayer today, do want to say this continue to
remember Miss Patricia, continue to remember Mr. Dan, remember
the Curry family as we will have the memorial service this week.
And I do want to just say it is so good to have y'all here this
morning and you don't have a Walker, Mr. Tony.
And you are making wonderful progress from the knee
replacement. Awesome.
Glad y'all here. Look, yes, also Brian Caraway is
in the hospital, but hopefully going home today if everything
not going home today. OK, OK.
Got bit by a spider think it was a brown recluse and had a has
had a very difficult time had a lot of had to get a lot of
antibiotics and still getting those.
But they think no, no permanent damage to that arm.
So continue to remember him and be careful.
And when you get bit, go ahead and go to the doctor.
He he waited. What really not even 20.
Gotcha. Yeah.
So we are thankful that he is doing much better.
Anyone else got any prayer requests?
All right. Let's go to the Lord in prayer.
Heavenly Father, it is good to be in your house this morning.
Lord, we do give thanks for an opportunity to celebrate our
nation. Lord, we give thanks to you for
how you have blessed us and how you continue to bless us.
We just lift up our our nation. We lift up our leaders, we lift
up our military. Lord, just pray for their
safety. Lord, pray for our leaders that
as they make decisions, Lord, that they do seek counsel from
you, Lord, and they make wise decisions that will not only
benefit the United States, but will benefit the world at large.
Lord, we ask now that as we look into your word this morning,
Lord, that our hearts would be receptive and, and we would
allow the Holy Spirit to move within us and, and to convict
us, Lord, to change us, whatever it may be.
It just to encourage us, but Lord that we allow the Spirit to
move. We also pray, Lord, for these
children that we've had over this past week.
We thank you for each of them. We thank you for those who are
in our in our town are in the outline areas that that we have
an opportunity to hopefully to come continue to minister to
during the future. Lord, just pray that as we reach
out that they will be receptive and then parents will allow them
to be a part. We pray you'll bless the
remainder of our service Lord, and it's in Jesus name I pray.
Amen. Our Communion hymn is number
631. Fill my cup, Lord.
Of course, first and second verse.
Christ invites to this table all who profess the Christian faith
and who seek the mercy of God. This is the table of the Lord.
Come not because you are strong, but because you are weak.
Come not because any goodness of your own gives you a right to
come, but because you need mercy and help.
Come because you love the Lord a little and you'd like to love
Him more. Come because the Lord loves you
and gives himself for you. Let this bread and wine be for
you, the token and pledge of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit,
all meant for you if you will receive them in humble faith.
O taste and see that the Lord is good.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for allowing us to come and
gather around this your table. As we break this bread, let
remind us of the body of your Son that paid the ultimate price
on that cross so that we could have eternal life.
Now we take this animal. May we do so in a matter of
pleasing unto you. Father, thank you for the many
blessings you've given us. Thank you for the opportunity we
have to come together to worship.
Praise you today. Especially we thank you for this
table and the invitation we have to come and partake of its
emblems. Now.
As we partake of this cup, we're reminded of Jesus's blood that
was poured out on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.
Pray that we may partake in a manner that shall please.
Amen to you Christ name, I pray. The Lord of Jesus, on the night
he was betrayed, took bread and he had given thanks.
He broke it and said, this is my body given for you.
Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, after supper he
took the cup, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me.
For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim
the Lord's death until he comes this morning.
If you have your Bible with you, you can turn to Romans chapter
12 and verse one, Romans chapter 12 and verse one.
As you're turning there, I want to give you a little bit, just a
little bit about Romans. So that the 1st 11 chapters of
this book of, of Romans deals with what we are to believe,
what we are to believe, what, what sin is, what God has done
through his Son Jesus Christ to pay the price for that sin.
He gives us a glimpse as to who God is and, and, and, and the
power that he has and, and he has shown that power through the
giving of his one and only son. And then we move and he and he
ends with the at the end of Romans Chapter 11.
I'm going to read this beginning in verse 33.
It says all the depth of the riches of the wisdom and
knowledge of God, how unsearchable His judgments and
his past beyond tracing out who has known the mind of the Lord
or who has been his counselor, Who has ever given to God that
God should repay them? For from him and through him and
for Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever.
Amen. Now He closes out that first
section with those words to remind us once again who God is
and that there is no one like him.
We have no one to compare Him to.
There is no one that even comes close.
And then he begins in chapter 12.
He gives us it from here to the end on how we are to behave, how
we are to live out this Christian life.
The responsibility that we have asked Christians to live in a
way that is pleasing and in accordance with God's will.
So he starts out in chapter 12, verse one.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's
mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and
pleasing to God. This is your true and proper
worship. Do not conform to the pattern of
this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is
His good, pleasing and perfect will.
This morning I know that I have preached on this at least three
times, maybe more since I have been here.
But I I want us to come back to this again because God continues
to bring to me in this passage the fact of are we living a life
that is pleasing to God? Are we living a life that is in
accordance with His will? Are we living a life that is
actually that we are living a life of sacrifice in view of
what God has done for us because of our sin, because of what we
deserved, because of him giving His one and only Son Jesus
Christ to come and to pay the price for that sin?
Are we living a life in response to that?
Or do we have this mindset of almost that we deserved Christ
to come The world that we live in today, and we talked about
this in, in our Sunday school class this morning.
The, the world that we live in today has has taken on this,
this idea that everyone is good. Let me give you a four example.
You play on a a sports team, let's just say a baseball team,
and you get to the end of the year and your team has not won a
game, not one game, but there will be a trophy presentation.
And your team, even though you lost, you lost every single
game, you will receive a trophy. You didn't, you didn't deserve a
trophy. You lost every single game.
And what I want you to understand this morning is I'm
not saying that children don't need a participation trophy, but
that is what I'm saying. What I'm trying to say is we
are. We are supposed to teach our
children through sports what it what it is to win and what it is
to lose. And that life is going to be
full of things that we are going to have some success and we're
going to have a lot of failures. And we have to learn to live
with that. We have to learn to deal with
that. But the world we live in, in
today, they say we don't want you to feel any pain.
We don't want you to feel uncomfortable.
We don't want you to feel like you're out of place.
Everybody gets a trophy. God's word says to you and me,
we missed the mark. We committed sin.
He desired perfection from us, and we totally missed the mark,
each and every one of us. We failed and we can't fix it on
our own. So he sent his one and only Son,
Jesus Christ, who lived that perfect life, who was that
perfect sacrifice, so that you and I can receive forgiveness
for that sin. So in response to that, I ask
you today, in view of God's mercy, he didn't have to do it.
He did it out of His love for us.
Are we living a life of sacrifice?
Is are we placing Him first and foremost in our lives or does he
take 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, however far down we have to go
to? If we're honest with ourselves?
Do we place our relationship with God above anything and
everything else? Let me give it to you like this.
I want to ask you this over this past week, how much time have
you spent in God's Word? How much time have you spent
been have you spent in prayer? How much time have you spent
living your life the way that Christ did, which was a daily,
daily sacrificial life for the Father?
He tells us when he came, he said I have come to do my
Father's will. That's the only reason that I
came. I came to do exactly what he
desires for me to do, and it doesn't matter what I'm going to
face, what I'm going to suffer. I know what's coming, but I will
live for him because that is what he has called me to do.
Paul says to us here that in view of God's mercy and all that
he has done for us, that we are to offer our bodies as a living
sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.
Not long ago we we spent some time on on, on the idea of what
it is for us to be holy, what it is for us to be set apart.
That we live differently than the world.
That they see something in us that they do not see in the rest
of the world. We are set apart.
We are different, we respond differently when things happen.
We we live a life of joy in the midst of pain because we
realized that this is not the end.
We are looking towards what God has prepared for us in heaven
and we live a different life. And he finishes that that
thought with this is your true and proper worship.
Basically he's saying this is how you should live your life.
This is your response to what God has done for you.
You live a life of sacrifice. Jesus said to us.
What? Take up your cross and follow me
daily. It's not just on Sundays that we
come to church. It's not just that we give a
part of what He has blessed us with.
It's not just that we pray for those who are sick.
It is a daily sacrificial life that we live.
Are we doing that? Then it says this in verse 2, do
not conform to the pattern of this world.
And I'm just going to stop right there.
Now I, I want to ask you are are we as a nation, as a state, as a
town, as a church, as an individual, are we conforming to
the ways of the world? Are are we standing firm in what
we know what is right, what is true, what is proper according
to God's Word? Do we stand on God's Word?
Do we live out God's Word? Or have we conformed to society?
Unfortunately, if we're honest with ourselves and with one
another, there's been a lot of conforming.
We do not live in accordance with the way that God desires
for us to. We do not live a life of
sacrifice. We do not take up our cross
daily. We do not love God first and
foremost. We do not love our neighbor as
our self. Self comes in often.
I go back to the sports team and everyone receiving a trophy.
Do you remember at the end of games when you would go out and,
and you would shake hands and whether you won or whether you
lost, you went out and you shook hands and, and, and you did it
respectfully. I, I can remember when I, when I
was playing baseball in Little League and I had pitched that,
that game and, and we had lost and I had pitched well and I was
angry, number one, that we had lost that, that we had some
errors in the field that I didn't think we should have had,
that we didn't hit the ball as we should.
And understand, I was very young, but all of these things I
felt I was thinking and I went out there and, and I, I was not
happy. I, I did not want to
congratulate them. And I did it in a very
unsportsmanlike way. When I got back to the dugout,
my coach said to me, you will not ever do that again.
You will not walk out there like that.
When you walk out and you shake hands, you do it in the way that
you're supposed to and that you know is right.
The world says to us today, hey, if you don't feel like it, you
don't have to Take God's word. You live your truth, not his
truth. You, you find your truth and you
live it. We should be teaching our
children that that this is truth, that we live in
accordance to God's Word, that we don't conform to the world,
that we live according to His Word.
It says, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
How do we renew our mind? The only way that we can do it
is through spending time in God's Word, through spending
time with Him in prayer, through communing with Him to allowing
Him to speak to us and we can be transformed out of this world
that we can live a life that is pleasing to him.
But for us to do that, we we have to set ourselves apart from
the world. We cannot conform.
We cannot be in walk in step with the world.
If people do not see something different about us as
Christians, we're failing. Hear me, hear me again.
If people do not see something different about us as
Christians, we are failing. We are failing to live in
accordance to the way God desires for us to do.
A life of sacrifice is not what the world teaches.
The world teaches us that. You get all that you can and you
deserve a trophy, and you're going to get a trophy.
God says to you and to me, if you don't accept Jesus Christ as
Lord and Savior, what's going to happen to you?
You're going to face the consequences for your sin.
That is on you as a person. It's not on anyone else.
It's not on your parents, it's on you.
It's not on your upbringing. We talked about this morning how
we have a lot of a lot of talk going on about the environment
that we live in gives us an excuse.
It does not. Just because you grew up with a
family who did not live in accordance with God's word does
not mean that you you don't have a responsibility to do it.
Of those of us who have been brought up in a Christian home,
was it a blessing? Was it maybe an advantage to us?
Maybe it was. But according to Romans, what
does it say in Romans chapter 1? Every single one of us are
without excuse. There is no excuse.
You will never get to stand before God and say my upbringing
was not really that good. I don't deserve what you're
saying. It's not going to happen.
You're without excuse. Each of us has an opportunity to
receive Christ as Savior. If we choose to not do that, we
will face the consequences of our actions.
We missed the mark we send. We did it on our own.
We talked about before from a very early age.
You had, excuse me, you have a child and there is a light
socket and they want to put their hand in that light socket
and you tell them no. When you tell them no, and
finally the third time they go to reach for that light socket
and you have to pop that hand. They have to be reprimanded.
They have to understand you do not do this.
But the world we live in today says, well, if you want to go
ahead, the consequences for sin do not change.
They are set. If we're going to be
transformed, if we are going to renew our minds and be who God
desires for us to be, we've got to be in His Word.
We've got to live according to His Word.
We have to spend time daily allowing Him to transform us, to
take us from who we are into what He desires for us to be,
not what we desire to be. When that happens, it says then
you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, His
good, pleasing and perfect will. And I want to close with this.
This past week we had Bible school and as I told you, these
young people were, they were great.
They, they truly were. They didn't complain.
They didn't say it's hot outside, I don't want to take
the children outside. They didn't say I don't want to
walk to class with them. I don't know this child, but
she's clinging on to me. They didn't complain, they did
it. They did exactly what I needed
them to do for them to be effective with those children.
And it was good and it was pleasing to me.
Imagine what it is for our Heavenly Father when we're
walking as He desires for us to walk as I'm proud as I am of
those children for what they did during Bible school.
Imagine how proud God is of us when we are walking in step with
Him, when we are following His commands, when we are loving as
He loved, when we are willing to sacrifice ourself for others.
That is what God's good, pleasing and perfect will for us
is, to live a life of sacrifice. Now the world, I can promise
you, is going to say to you and to me, that is so backwards it's
ridiculous. That makes no sense.
If you don't take care of yourself, no one else will.
You have to get yours, am I right?
Is that what was that? What is?
Is that what it's taught? God says to you and to me, What
do for others, Give till it hurts, sacrifice for someone
else. It goes against everything that
the world teaches, but it's what God teaches.
It's what God desires. It's actually what God commands.
This morning I simply ask you and I ask myself, are we living
a life of sacrifice? Are we rejecting the idea of
conforming to where the world is going?
Are we willing to stand up and stand on the principles of God's
word? Are we living a life that is
pleasing to God? Are we pleasing self?
Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I do Thank you,
Lord, for your love and your grace and your mercy that you
bestow upon us each and every day.
We hadn't deserved it, we didn't earn it, but you loved us
anyway, and we thank you for that.
And Lord, we simply pray that as your children that we will take
Your word and we will apply it to our lives, that we will honor
Your word because these words are your words says to us that
all Scripture is God breathed. This is your desire for us.
This is how you have revealed yourself to us.
Well, we pray today that if we have been conforming to the
world that we would stop, that we would be transformed by our
relationship with You, by your word, by our time together with
fellow believers, that we stand together because of who you are
and what you did on the cross. For each of us.
Lord, we also simply pray that we will be a a church who who
loves, who has patience, who forgives, who goes the extra
mile when everybody else says it's not worth it, you say it is
we were worth it. And those people that are
outside who do not know Jesus Christ, we have an opportunity
to show them the love of Christ. I pray that we will.
So in Jesus name I pray. Amen.
Please stand, turn to #433 I surrender all.
We'll do all three verses. here this morning.
I want to remind you that the people the following, we will
have a fellowship in the fellowship hall and burgers, ice
cream, baked beans, potato salad.
I don't know what all else there is, but there's a lot.
And I hope that you will stay and enjoy the time of fellowship
and the time of food. And we have an opportunity to
give thanks for how the Lord has blessed us at the church.
So let's pray, Heavenly Father, we do give thanks, Lord, for
this day, for this opportunity that we've had to worship the
one true and living God. Lord and we do pray that as we
leave this place or that we will not conform, but that we will be
transformed and that we you desire for us to be.
We pray that we never blessed to lose the nurse for our bodies,
our bodies and your service and Jesus and my pray, Amen.