Sabbath Sunday

Good morning, men and women. Such an awesome blessing to just be able to come to you again from Life Fellowship Church here in McKinney, Texas, on the Pando app, on your tablet, in the place that you're at. I love that. It's such a blessing. My name is Logan Williams. My TDC number is 1490218. I got four numbers after that. I've been around and around and around the system. I didn't think I'd ever come out of it. I thought, this is just my life. This is just my lot in life because I just can't seem to, I could do right for a little while or I could not get caught for a little while and then eventually it just happened again and again and again and it's frustrating and it's disappointing and it's just being in prison is not fun. So that's why I share that with you because I get it, but Jesus entered into my heart. He changed my life. He transformed me. He stepped down from heaven into my mess and so be encouraged. He did it for me. He can do it for you. Who's next? Who is next? He wants to change your life. He wants a relationship with you so bad and gosh, I just love it and I love that we can put these messages and put these things on your tablet right there and I want to just say I appreciate all you that are watching. There's so many of y'all, tens of thousands, 40, 50, 60, sometimes 80, 90,000 people a week watch our content and we're honored. We love you.

You are part of our church family. Don't let the enemy lie to you. You are part of this family. We pray for you. We think about you and if you get out and you're anywhere near the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex on a Sunday morning, we have four services. Just come up here. Look for me. You can't miss me. I'd love to connect with you and introduce you to everyone and get you a coffee and just do life, man. Even if you live far and you can't make this your home church, just come visit us, man, because it blesses us so much to see you. So I was going into the county jail, Collin County Jail, on Friday. I was in the morning studying, kind of looking, God give me a word. We were speaking to the females. My wife walked by and said, hey, what are you doing? I'm like, I'm looking for a word for these females in Collin County and as she was walking out the door, just said, tell them God will repay for what the locust ate and then she shut the door and left. And so I started thinking about that. I looked up that scripture and it's very interesting. My wife's pretty, pretty awesome and has discernment, but I want to, I gave it to them. I want to give it to you and it's Joel. It's a book of Joel. Not too many, not too many people are quoting the book of Joel very often, but it's chapter two, verse 25. It says, I will repay you for the years the locust have eaten. And what struck me there was it said the years, like he's going to repay for the years that the locust eat, like he's going to redeem the time.

And as I thought about that and I thought about my four trips to prison, my nine and a half years incarcerated, I did have those moments where I thought to myself, man, like sure I'm wasting a lot of time, you know, because in between that, you know, now I'm using drugs and doing crime and, and, and I can just tell you that that's my experience. God repaid the years. And so I'm just now looking up here, it just hit me to look up that word years and see what it says, because I like looking up the words, okay. For the years. Okay. Shauna is the Hebrew word means a year, a division of time, a measure of time, an indication of age or a lifetime. And so when he says he's going to repay that time, it's funny how he mentions that the locusts are going to eat the time, but that's exactly what happens when we're incarcerated, right? We feel like the locusts are just eating up all our time and we can't get it back. And how am I going to get a job? I don't have a resume because I've been locked up all this time. I'm going to have this gap on there. No one's going to hire me. All these things, guys, I'm telling you, that's something you don't have to worry about. If you get all in with Jesus, that's something you don't have to worry about. He will repay. You will have plenty to eat until you are full and you will pray. He's the name of the Lord, your God, who has worked wonders for you. Never again will my people be shamed. It says, verse 27, then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am your God and there is no other. Never again will my people be shamed. He said it twice in like three scriptures, three verses.

Not gonna be put to shame, man. But then I know some of you are like, yeah, Logan, that sounds good, but you don't know what I've done. You don't understand what I'm bringing in here. Like some of you just got to county jail. You've been arrested for crazy crime. They got you stuck in SAG and you're like, man, I got a long road ahead of me. Some of you, some of you have done, you've been on a long road. I mean, you've done 15, 18, 20, 25 years on a 30 or a 40 year sentence. And you've been denied parole so many times that you're tempted to just say, you know, man, to heck with this, all this. And so you want to give up. And so you don't want to approach God, maybe because of what you've done. You don't want to approach God, maybe because for the last, I don't know, a couple of years, maybe you haven't been reading. Maybe you haven't been praying. Maybe you haven't been going to church. Maybe you've just been so frustrated for whatever, because there's so many things to be frustrated about in a prison or a county jail or in the situation that you're at. Maybe you're like, I can't approach God because of fill in the blank.

I've done too much. I've gone too far. Even after I made the declaration that, yes, I want to walk with Jesus, I've still backslidden and done some terrible things while I've been incarcerated. I've still not done this. Guys, I want to read you. So earlier I read you verse 25. That's that he will repay. But you know, I was just reading around that. And in the beginning of chapter two of Joel in verse 12, it's addressing what I'm talking about. Maybe you feel like you can't approach God. Maybe you feel like God's not gonna do anything for me anyway because of blank, because I've been doing this, because of all this stuff that I have, because not only that, but the things that I haven't done. I haven't been doing this. I haven't been walking with him. I haven't been a good Christian. I haven't been. And so I just want to encourage you. Verse 12 is for people like you, people that feel guilty, people that feel hopeless, people that are disappointed, people that can't maybe even muster up another prayer of faith because they prayed so many of them and they haven't seen anything happen. Verse 12, it says,

"'Even now,' declares the Lord, "'return to me with all your heart, even now.'" It doesn't matter what you've done. It doesn't matter how you feel. It doesn't matter if you've been walking with him or if you've been ignoring him, back to him, middle finger to him. He's saying, even now, return to me, return to me. How do we return to him with our whole heart? With fasting and weeping and mourning. He wants us to wring our hearts out to him. Go and tell him how you feel. Go and tell him, man, I haven't been praying. Go and tell him, man, I haven't been reading the Bible. Go and tell him, yeah, I made this decision for you and then I went off on this other road and I did a bunch of drugs or I did a bunch of sexual sin or I did a bunch of whatever. Go and tell him, wring your heart out, fasting and weeping and mourning. "'Return to the Lord, your God, "'for he is gracious and compassionate, "'slow to anger, abounding in love, "'and he relents from sending calamity.'" Who knows, he may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing. So God is saying to all of you to return to him. He is saying, no matter what you've done, no matter how bad you feel or if you don't even have any hope left, man,

he wants you to return to him. Wring your heart out, have a moment with God. Have a moment where you just cry out to him. He'll enter into your life and he'll change everything. He can do that, he wants to do that. So let me pray for you guys. Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank you for the men and the women that you send to our channel, that you send to watch our messages. God, we love you, we thank you, man. You knew every single person that's gonna click on this today. Even six months or a year or 18 months from now, somebody's gonna click on this at just the right time. And that's not coincidence, God. That's your divine, perfect timing and we love you for that, God. And so I just ask that you would bless all these men and women, that you would bless their families while they're gone, that you would give them some hope, some encouragement, let them know how much you love them, let them know that nothing ties. your hands let them know that there is nothing that they've done that you can't come in and meet them right where they're at and set them free God showing up in their life with power um but but they have to get all in so God I pray that you would show them what it is that they need to lay down what they what it is that they need to offer up to you on that altar God I pray that they would have a moment with you somehow where they could wring their hearts out and so God we thank you we just invite you in to do what only you can do we give you all the praise

and glory in Jesus name amen thank you guys whose house God's house let's give him some praise enjoy the message good morning life fellowship family we just want to invite you guys to worship with us on this sabbath sunday I know that you guys are in the comfort of your homes but please just prepare your hearts for what the Lord has for us this morning I believe that the Holy Spirit is going to fill your homes while you're at home so let's just worship the Lord this morning so where people pray I think where people is um is yes is sing his praise is oh the one the powers of hell begin to shake and when he moves and when we pray what's to do all now stands away Where every promise is a man Oh And when he moves Make no mistake The bowels of hell begin to shake All hail the Lord All hail the King So we sing Hey

Oh Let the King of glory enter in Hey Oh Fall down on your knees and worship Him Hey Oh Let His praise rise up, don't hold it in Don't hold it in So we awake My soul and sing Sing His praise aloud Sing His praise aloud Oh Jesus Awake my soul and sing Sing His praise aloud Sing His praise aloud Oh We bless you Jesus We magnify your holy name Up above the heavens sing And down below it's echoing The anthem of eternity Let it rise, let it rise, let it rise And Jesus we behold you now We lift our hands, we lay our crowns And highest praise we bring to you Let it rise, let it rise, let it rise Let it rise, let it rise, let it rise How holy, how holy

Is the Lord God Almighty So worthy, so worthy to be praised Every nation try the tongue Bows before the throne of God Praise the Father, Spirit, Son Let it rise, let it rise, let it rise Let it rise, let it rise, let it rise How holy, how holy Is the Lord God Almighty So worthy, so worthy to be praised How holy, how holy Is the Lord God Almighty So worthy, so worthy to be praised You be praised, so worthy that you are, so worthy that you are. The first, the last, the Alpha and Omega, the One who was and is to come. The Lion of Judah, the Lamb who was slain, the Risen King, the Living One. The first, the last, the Alpha and Omega, the One who was and is to come. The Lion of Judah, the Lamb who was slain, the Risen King, the Living One. How holy, how holy is the Lord God Almighty. So worthy, so worthy to be praised. How holy, how holy is the Lord God Almighty. So worthy, so worthy to be praised. To be praised. To be praised. Well, hey, everybody. Welcome to Sabbath Sunday.

We're so glad that you've chose to join with us for the next few moments. And I really pray that you've had an incredible, restful holiday Christmas season with your friends and your family, and that you've eaten good and that you've made and had a lot of fun. And today we wanted to take a moment and look back at what has really happened in 2025. And the way that I kind of have been thinking about it, it's almost like a backpack that you've been wearing throughout this entire year. And when you set it down, you open it up and you realize there's all these different things that you didn't even realize you were carrying with you. All kinds of experiences, situations, some of them good, some of them bad, some of them pretty ugly. I know that we got to celebrate this last year that we welcomed our grandson into this world. That was a really good experience. It was so cool to see my son get engaged. And then we've had some really tough moments in our family, in the lives of some of our friends have gone through just really a lot of tragedy. And so as we've kind of reflected back throughout this year, there are a few things that have really stood out that have kind of been in that backpack of life. And we wanted to just talk about them with you for just the next 10 minutes. Yeah. So what I know is that you cannot choose your battles, but you can always choose your attitude. Right. I love what the Bible tells us in John 16, 33. I've told you these things so that you may have peace in this world. You're going to have trouble, but take heart because I have overcome the world. And it's such a great reminder for us because we know we didn't get to choose. Right. All of the things that happened in 2025, some of them being amazing and some of them being very difficult. And as believers, we're not guaranteed that it's always going to be great. Life can sometimes knock the wind out of us. Yeah, it really can. Like life doesn't schedule hardships. They just show up, whether it's like a bad diagnosis or an issue. with one of your kids or I'm knowing that there's been a number that have walked into their job and they've been let go or there's situations that

happen and so you can't control the difficulty but you can control how you respond to it and I think that's one thing that we've really learned this year and I would really encourage you to take stock in your attitude towards the storms, the battles, the attacks that have come your way. I love what Charles Swindoll says, he says life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it. Your reaction is massive. Exactly and I'm gonna add in there another verse from Thessalonians because I think this gives us the key really to how we should respond regardless of what's going on in our life. 1st Thessalonians 5 16 to 18 says rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you and that is such a roadmap for all of us really just reminding us that we should pray for everything, rejoice in everything and don't stop. Give thanks in all circumstances even the really hard things. That's where it's really hard. Yeah. That's where your character really comes out. It really you and we've had to do that this yet last year in the middle of the muck and the difficulty it's when it you don't want to do that you want to just kind of crawl into some corner and kind of hide. It's making the decision that okay I I really can't control this storm, this battle that's come against me but I can control my attitude and your attitude matters so much because your kids are seeing it. It's modeling something for those that are all around. Exactly. Yeah you said it so well that scripture tells us how to respond and it's not only making an impact in our own situation, in our own attitude, in our own mental health to help us walk through storms but it's impacting the people who are watching, who are our kids, our friends who are observing us go through it. Now here's the thing that you need to know and that's this when you go through hell and trust me I'm so sorry but there's gonna be some difficult moments that are gonna come your life in 26 just like they did in 25. A winning attitude isn't denying the things that's happening. It's not pretending like well I guess I'm just a la la la la la it's just not really there. No but it's giving direction to your life, to your focus, to your to the trajectory of your life and so in the middle of the disappointments

that we've that we've faced in the middle of the the challenges it's massively important that your attitude is right. In fact they've made the statement before that attitude is contagious. Is yours worth catching? I'm just really praying for all of us that 2026 is going to be the year that we have that the attitude that we have the same attitude as Christ Jesus. That we we see the best in others and that even though there looks like difficulty all around we see hope in the middle of it. And again it's not denying what's taking place it's rising above it with faith saying this this thing's gonna change. Yeah and I would just throw this in there as we wrap up this first point is don't forget to remember that you serve a faithful God. That he is a God who is working all things together for your good and and he is he is good. Your situation may not be but he is good and he will cause these things to work together and bring something good from it that's gonna glorify him. Yeah and listen that when you change your attitude it doesn't change the battle all around you it just changes the battle that's been happening on the inside of you. Well we got to keep going here's here's the second thing. Okay you prayed for this season so don't sprint past it slow down and enjoy the process. And I think this one's even more so for me I'm the guy that's always sprinting past I'm always living in the future I'm always like four five six seven years down the road like you know that that's true. This is true. I'm always like it's hard for me to live in the moment and one of the great things about you honey is that you've helped me to appreciate to stop and smell the roses and just to appreciate what it is that we have right now. The the family that's around us and not just to to look for the next thing but to add tradition into what we do and to really appreciate even when God is doing some difficult uncomfortable things inside of us when it comes to a character or your life. Appreciate that process happening. I love what my friend John Maxwell says. He says your pace determines your perspective So slow down and you'll see what God is showing you So good, but so hard to do because you know life really is about the journey It's not about the destination and so oftentimes all of us can get caught up in

Arriving in getting there and achieving the goal or checking off the list and when we get there we forget to remember, you know, we're living in the days that many of us once prayed for and let's Take stock in that let's let's look around and enjoy the journey the process to get there because so much of that is about deepening our faith deepening our roots and It's really important, you know, the Bible says King Solomon in Ecclesiastes He said he has made everything beautiful in its time And I know that you know, my time is different than God's time I wish that God, you know operated on my level and and how I want him to do things But he operates at it in a different realm in a different way and God will always Fulfill what it is that he promised but he's gonna do it in a way that is perfect It's gonna be just it's gonna be perfect And I think that there's something powerful in us slowing down and remembering And so I just want to encourage you, you know as as we're on a day here a Sabbath Sunday, we're slowing down Let's remember the blessing of God that has happened here in 2025 Remember what God has done in your life You know, we we had a day a couple weeks ago with our staff and we had a kind of a staff Thanksgiving and we we all brought food together and we We actually played on the screens in the room that we were in the old The old today show the old today show like the 90s. Yeah, the Thanksgiving Macy's Day Parade so they're like some of our younger people are looking at it going what kind of What is that and when it had the old commercials and everything and we're all laughing we're eating good There was a moment that I just stopped everybody And I looked at him all and I said guys, I want you to understand right now That we are living in a very special moment right now That there's gonna come a day that you're gonna look back on this little gathering that we had right here And you're gonna remember that this was this was a really good time like we're really living in some of the best Days of our life, you know I tell my staff that you know a lot of times we get ready for like our Christmas Eve services or our Easter services and the place is gonna be packed with all kinds of

people And I'll tell them hey, let there be a moment After all the work and the effort and everything that you've put into this event Just slow down just breathe it in and just look and see what God is doing We okay, I'll go ahead. No, I was just gonna talk for a minute about the importance of doing that and Oftentimes, I think we want to rush ahead because we don't like the delay because we don't like the The feeling stuck in between the start point and what we see is the finish line But there's so much purpose in God's timing there's so much purpose when there is a delay every challenge has a lesson that we're learning in the midst of it and often it's uncomfortable, but But important for us to learn the lesson right and when you slow down that's when you can hear God's voice A lot of times we're not hearing God's voice because we're just running a thousand miles at the second We've got every single notification ringing in our ears and our hearts and our minds and if you can just shut that stuff off and Just take these next few days as you're with your family as you with your your friends as you you have some quiet time by yourself and just Slow down And then let me give you the third thing that really stood out to us in this last year And that's this number three. It taught me that I can't do God's work without God's Power and I am just reminded again that I'm not good enough smart enough talented enough gifted enough To fulfill the purpose and the call of God on my life without him I Need the Holy Spirit and that's why the Bible says in Acts chapter 1 verse 8 It says that you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you Not when you read some self-help book not when you

Get enough grit and determination in yourself No, it happens when you come to the end of yourself and you allow the Holy Spirit To flow through you and we begin to pray You know i've always said this that prayer is how we write history before it happens And 2026 has yet to be written And we're gonna write it with the power of prayer because we need the touch of god on us more than ever before So I want to just challenge you church family as we get ready to um begin 21 days of prayer and fasting that begins next sunday January 4th I want to ask you to really think about what are you going to? Fast that you're going to pull away from so that you can lean into god. We're going to disconnect from this world So that we can which is fasting and then we're going to connect in with god, which is prayer And i'm going to ask you to join tatum and I and we're going to seek the lord with all of our heart soul mind and strength Because when man works man works, but when man begins to pray god Begins to work and so we want to just close out this time by just praying over you right where you're at And so tatum, would you just pray for? Pray for everyone as we close out this Lord jesus, I thank you for every person who's watching this today father I thank you for your faithfulness over 2025 as we look back on this year god, and we see the ways that you Carried us we see the ways god that you were faithful to us and we look ahead Knowing that the same god who is faithful this past year Is going to walk through 2026 with us whatever the year brings We have so much hope jesus in who you are and in what you're doing and I pray that this would be a year father that Each and every person hears your voice clearly Knows you more deeply Sees your faithfulness in their lives as you answer their prayers and you hear the cries of your heart God I pray that this week would be a special week of rest a special week of refreshing them with your presence with your love

And it's in jesus name that I pray. Amen. Amen. And amen. Hey everybody. We want you to know we love you We're so excited for 2026 2026 will be the greatest year of your life if it's the greatest year of your life Spiritually, so we'll see you january 4th back in our services Both here in mckinney and in anna those of you in the correctional facilities and online We love every single one of you I want we want to wish you a happy new year and a great day of rest today. God bless you everybody. We love you You