Take Heed

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ There is a blood that cost a life that paid my debt and at this price And when it flowed down from the cross my sins were gone my sins forgot There is a grave that tried to hide this precious blood that gave me life And in three days he breathed again and rose to stand in my defense So I come to tell you he's alive to tell you that he tries every tear that falls So I come to tell you that he sings to shout and to proclaim

that he's coming back for you There is a blood that signs the blind that heals the sick and lonely find Oh it has the power to free the bound As chains they fall upon the ground So pour it out Oh and cleanse my soul And let his precious glory flow Because it lives to make me whole I owe my life I owe my all So I come to tell you he's alive to tell you that he tries every tear that falls So I come to tell you that he sings to shout and to proclaim that he's coming back for you So I come to tell you he's alive to tell you that he tries

every tear that falls So I come to tell you that he sings to shout and to proclaim that he's coming back for you Oh he's coming back Oh my great Jesus guitar solo The precious blood of Jesus Flashes through the snow Oh yeah guitar solo Sing it with me One can wash away my sins One can wash away my sins One can make me whole One can make me whole ♪ Behold again, nothing but the blood, nothing but the blood ♪ ♪ Wash and wash away my sins, nothing, nothing ♪ ♪ One can make, behold again, nothing but the blood, nothing but the blood ♪ ♪ There is a grave that tried to hide this precious blood, all that gave me life ♪ ♪ From burning three days, my only breath again, had a rose to stand in my grave ♪ ♪ So I cry, tell you he's alive, tell you that he's right, all the time, every tear that falls ♪ ♪ So I cry, tell you that he's safe, tell you that he's safe, he's coming back, he's coming back, he's coming back ♪ ♪ So I cry, tell you that he's safe, tell you that he's safe, he's coming back, he's coming back, he's coming back for you, oh he's coming back for you ♪ ♪ Oh thank you Jesus, oh come Lord Jesus, come Lord Jesus, hallelujah, hallelujah, thank you Jesus ♪ Come Lord Jesus.

Now Lord our souls have been stirred and enriched with the beautiful music and the powerful words and now we've come to that moment where we wish to hear from heaven. Lord I hold this book in my hand and we have it in our hearts, this beautiful word of life no book in the world like it. It's the only heavenly book there is and so I pray today that you'll give the preacher skill to make it clear so that we can all say amen and that we will all be changed in some way or another. I ask that in the name of him who loved us and gave himself for us even Jesus and the whole church said amen. You can be seated, smile at somebody on the way down. We love all nations don't we? Yes. That includes Israel. We love all people. That includes Jewish people. Amen. In my fervor last week I, because that's the way I am, I said a couple of things that I think probably need to be clarified today. The thrust of that message was that all that we need and all that we want is in Jesus Christ. Everything is fulfilled in Christ. All of God's requirements for holiness and daily living fulfilled in Jesus Christ and I mentioned the feasts and by the way all the feasts are fulfilled in Christ but God still has a calendar you see. God works with Israel on this calendar. You see, Jesus was crucified on the Passover. Jesus was raised from the dead on the feast of firstfruits. Pentecost came after that. We're in Pentecost right now. This is the great harvest, the great gospel going around the world, the gospel of grace, and the church is responsible to preach that gospel. And soon the last person will be brought into the body of Christ, and then the Feast of Trumpets will begin. A trumpet's going to sound, we'll be called out, and then God will resume his dealings with Israel. During the Great Tribulation, we see what the Feast of Atonement is all about. God is correcting and perfecting his people Israel during the Tribulation, the Atonement. And then Jesus is coming back to this earth. That's the

celebration of tabernacles, when God will personally come and tabernacle among the Jews, and we will be his bride living in his palace. That's beautiful stuff right there. And I was very passionate when I talked about whoever is in Christ is neither male nor female, bond or free, Jew nor Gentile. But you have to remember, I'm talking about the totality, the fulfillment of Jesus Christ, and how he makes everybody equal, and everybody's accepted, but everybody's not totally changed. You see, Jesus Christ will forever be a Jewish man. He came into the world as a Jew. He died as a Jew. He's sitting on the throne right now as a Jew, and he's a man. That's who he is for eternity. I, one day, will be a white dude in heaven for eternity. You will be Asian. You will be Hispanic. You will be Indian. And I made fun of Larry because he doesn't care. When Larry gets to heaven, he'll be just as black when he gets to heaven as he is right now. Right? And I think God will give him the option of having hair. You too, Sam. If you want some hair, you can have it. And I say all of this because I don't ever want to disrespect anybody's culture, anybody's color, ever. I've never wanted to insult anybody. I've wanted to help everybody, you see. And so if it sounded last week a little, maybe that I was being a little derogatory towards Jewish culture or traditions, I wasn't. I mentioned the shofar and the prayer shawl, and I wasn't. I didn't mean to. In my house, I have two very expensive prayer shawls that I got from Israel, and I have been known to get in my prayer corner with that prayer shawl over my head and cry out to God. I just wanted to. I've got shofars in the house, and I've blown them. I remember when Sandra and I, we had four girls, four little girls, and trying to get them up every morning and ready for school was a task. I do not ever want to do again as long as I live. It was just horrible. We have one, you got one sister, she's, she's just always in a coma. You can't wake her up. We'd get her up, and she'd wobble around. We'd put food in and try to comb her hair. And then the other three, you know. So I said to Sandra, I'll fix this. What are you gonna do? I said, you just let me worry about it. So the next morning when it was time for all them to get up, I grabbed that shofar, and I went down the hall blowing that

thing, and each other's, every room, and three of them woke up in hysterics. The other one never heard it, still hasn't heard it. And they were traumatized. So I only did it once. And Sandra Connor, she was very wise, she said, don't do that anymore. It just didn't work. The point is, I have Jewish culture in my house, Jewish ornaments in my house. I wasn't speaking against all of that. No, I was trying to make the point last week that our salvation is only through a man. And all these other beautiful things, wonderful things, traditions, etc., they're just that. They're beautiful, but they do not bring salvation. It's only faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I say what our ancestors have said, we are saved in Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone. That's it. And when you start talking about Christ, you get to the power of his words, the simplicity of what he said, and it just astonishes you. You cannot get to the bottom of it. As many times as I've preached out of Matthew 7 13, I found myself once again just in awe of the power and the simplicity, the explanation of the Christian life and the Christian walk. Here's how he said it, enter by the narrow gate. Enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way. That leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it, because narrow is the gate, and difficult is the way, which leads to life, and there are few who find it. You see, this is more than just a door to walk through or a gate to pass through. There's a way. Even the broad gate has a way after you pass through it. This narrow gate is the entrance. There's a life to be lived, there's a road to be traveled, there is obedience required. Nobody can just stand and say, I just walked through the gate and stop. You don't just make a profession of Christ and call it salvation, because once you profess Him, you must pursue Him. He has already found you. He reached way down and picked you way up, but now that you've walked through the gate, you must pursue Christ and press toward the mark of the high call of God in Christ Jesus. There is no room for lethargy. It's movement. Faith is not just a noun, it's a verb. I say it again. It is a life, a total life that you live. It is a road that you walk. It is a spiritual journey every day, and Jesus said this way is

difficult. Difficult. Do you hear that? If you know you're walking with Christ, if your life is difficult in Christ. Paul, or Peter said, the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God. Have you read that? God's gonna start judgment, not in the world, but in the church. He's already doing it. Watch what's going on. These foolish ministries that glorify men and money are beginning to tumble to the ground. God's gonna clean this thing up. So he starts at the house of God, and if he begins with us, what will happen to the world and the ungodly? He says if we're scarcely saved, if the righteous are scarcely saved, that doesn't mean barely. It means with great difficulty. Those who follow Christ experience great difficulty all the time, because Satan hates you, and because God is developing you. There's never one restful day in your spirit, because either the enemy is attacking, And God lets the enemy do that. God lets Satan train you. Did you hear what I just said? We said, God, rebuke the devil. And sometimes the Lord says, I'm the one that let him loose on you. That didn't go over well, did it? You see, Satan is not omniscient. He's not omnipotent. He's not sovereign. He thinks he's smart, but he did the dumbest thing he could have done when he nailed Christ to a cross through ungodly believers because that very act of crucifixion and resurrection sealed his doom. And now this defeated devil is God's way sometimes of helping me stay clean and pure and focused and prayerful. So when Jesus said this way is difficult, you know what he was talking about. You understand what's involved there. Jesus said, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. I just want to make sure that nobody sitting here today or watching me online today thinks that because you say Jesus is Lord that you're saved. Anybody can say that. I don't want you to think that because you believe there's a God

that you're saved. Satan above all believes there's a God. What I do want you to understand is that when you come to the knowledge of Jesus, this saving knowledge, you realize that you don't have a static life. You don't stand still. You run, you walk, you fight, you kneel, you pursue, you give. There's no end to the activity because faith is a verb. That's why the writer of Hebrews chapter 6 says, therefore leaving the principles of the doctrines of Christ, leaving the elementary stuff, the baby stuff, the milk, let us go on unto perfection. Move away. Get up. Make some progress. Learn more about Jesus. Serve him better than you've ever served him. Go after him with everything that you possibly have in your life. And that's what Jesus meant in John 15. He talked about abiding, you see. Abiding means I can't live a day without him. Abiding means I won't start a day without him. It means that the first thing on my mind, my mind, when I wake up is, I need breakfast from heaven. I need food for my soul before I ever put an egg or a piece of anything inside of me. I need food from heaven. I need time with God. And I'm very serious, church. I'm preaching to you the life that I have to live and the life that you have to live because this is a daily thing. This is not a weekly go-to-church-on-Sunday thing. Every day of my life, I must eat the word of God and learn something from his heart. So Jesus talked about abiding. If you abide in me, live in me, draw life from me. How can I say this any better? A Christian doesn't have a life outside of Jesus.

I can't say it any differently, but I'll say it again. You don't have a life beside Jesus. He is your life. Not your business, not your income, not your family. None of that is your life. Those are issues in your life. Those are temporary responsibilities in your life. But your real life is Christ. And every day you get up and say, one of these days, it could be today, my life who is in Christ Jesus will appear and I will be in front of him. Abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself. You can't live without me. You can't bear fruit without me. And every branch that does not bear fruit, he takes away. And those branches that don't bear fruit, he throws them to the fire. It's that simple. Then I read in Colossians 1.23. You don't mind if I go to the scriptures again, do you? Colossians 1 23, listen to these words. And you who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, oh this is beautiful, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight. Isn't that great? But that's not the end of the sentence. If indeed you continue in the faith, if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded, that means you're not hopping from one church to the other, one teacher to the other, one TV evangelist to the other, one faith to the other, one idea to the other, but

you are rooted, you are grounded and steadfast in Jesus Christ alone. I've said before the reason people just swap churches all the time is because they've never met Jesus. Here we go. Once you meet Jesus, you won't want anything or anybody else. Once you meet Jesus, you won't be looking for the newest, greatest teacher and a fad that he or she is teaching. You won't be saying, I just need deeper things. Oh, I want to get into the spirit realm. Oh, I need a new dimension. No. Jesus is as deep. Jesus is the dimension. Jesus is your life. Jesus is your hope. Jesus is everything. Jesus is all in all. If you continue in the faith, get up every day and start all over again. I mean this church. You've heard me preach it for almost 50 years. You get up every day and you start all over again. You don't live off yesterday's prayers or last week's revival. You start all over again. Jesus is the one that talked about, well he said, blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness. How long has it been since we've pondered that? How hungry am I for righteousness? Most people are hungry for power. I want miracles. I want miracle working power in my life. Jesus said, well, blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, being totally right with God, nothing between you and your Savior, clean mind, clean heart, clean hands, boldness because all sins are confessed and under the blood. Oh, blessed are they that hunger. I know it's 1130 now, our time, Eastern Standard time. Already stomachs are growling because you know in just about 30 minutes that this thing's gonna be over and then you can head that way. Is it that way? Yeah, okay. To eat. We don't really know what deep, agonizing hunger is. We just pick up a snack every once in a while. We eat at 8, 12, 4, and 8 because we never really get to the place that we are avidly hungry. Or how about thirst? We have a brother in this room that is a Vietnam vet. He told me about the time in a firefight they were stranded for days and couldn't get water, and he said he's never been that thirsty in his life, and even today when he walks by a water fountain anywhere, he gets a drink of water because he remembers how thirsty he was. Not many of us have ever been that thirsty, and yet our Lord said, Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be

filled. How do I create that in my life? How do I make it an atmosphere where God can make me hungry? Well, I abide in Him, and I remember that I have to continue in the faith and not be moved away from the hope of the gospel which I heard. You see, he's church. He's talking to believers. He's talking to believers about being careful that you're not moved away from the hope that's in the gospel of Jesus Christ. How does that happen? How do believers move from hope? Because they forget that faith is not just a statement, it's a lifestyle. You go through the book of Hebrews. I don't have time to do it. You'll see that all of those patriarchs did something. It says, by faith, by faith Enoch walked with God and had a testimony that he pleased God. By faith, Noah built an ark and saved his house. By faith, Abraham left his family and went, not knowing where he was going. By faith, Jacob wrestled with God all night long. He said, I will not let go till you bless me. By faith, Rahab the harlot took her life in her own hands by hiding the spies because she believed in the true and living God. All of those in Hebrews were saved, and because they were saved, they did something. They had a walk. Walking won't save you. Works won't save you. But when you get saved, you will walk and you will work. I thought that was pretty good, and I got four, and I'm serious about that. Their doing was proof of their calling. There's a passage in 1 Peter chapter 1. Let me read these words to you. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again into a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you. Happy about that? Who are kept by the power of God. Are you happy about that? Through faith. Kept by the power of God through faith. God keeps people who walk by faith. God protects people who live by faith. Nobody is saved who's just standing at the gate. Saved people will walk through it and then walk the road until they see Jesus face to face. They will be busily engaged in the ministry of Jesus Christ. I just gave you the verse, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. He didn't just say, follow

me and let's have a good time, let's talk. He said, no, you follow me and I'll make you do something for the kingdom of God. Let me read it again. Reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. And then I want to turn over to 1st Corinthians chapter 10 and read these words to you. Brothers, he says, I don't want you to be unaware that all our fathers passed under the cloud, all passed through the sea. He's talking about Israel. God brought them across the sea and they were under the cloud. They were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. Listen to these words, all ate the same spiritual food, all drank the same spiritual drink for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them and that rock was Christ. Christ was with Israel in the old Old Testament in the wilderness, but with most of them God was not well-pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness." Church, listen to this verse. Now, these things became our examples. To the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. He's talking to believers. He's warning believers. If it could happen to them, it could happen to you. If they can lust after evil things, we can lust after evil things. And do not become idolaters as some of them were. As it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play, nor let us commit sexual immorality. He's talking to believers. And some of them did, and in one day, 23,000 failed. God won't put up with it, you see. I don't know how to... God won't put up with it. He is long-suffering and he's merciful, but there comes a time when you cross the line and you say, I'm going to do what I want to do, and God says,

then I'm going to do what I have to do. Nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor complain, as some of them also complained and were destroyed by the destroyer. Complain, yeah, this road's too narrow, it's too hard. God expects too much. I can't do this. I can't juggle two lifestyles. I can't bear this burden. What do you mean, pray all the time? What do you mean, read the Bible all the time? What do you mean, give up this world? He that loves his life will lose it, and he that loses his life for my sake and the Gospels will find. I can't do that. Then he writes, now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition. All that happened so we could read about it and learn, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. That's us. We're in the end of the ages. We need to hear what they're saying. He was warning believers. He was waving a flag saying, don't do what they did, because God didn't tolerate it. God won't put up with it. You may be his, but God will not stand for rebellion, and sin, and complaining, and sexual immorality. God won't put up with it.

Verse 12, this is the shocker. Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. Wow. Let him who thinks he stands take heed. He's talking to believers. Lest he fall. But pastor, I am totally eternally secure. No matter how I live, I am here by the grace of God. You are wrong. And I've spent the first 25 minutes telling you why you're wrong, because you're not just saved because you say, Lord, Lord. You've got to do the will of the Father. There is obedience involved. There is walking, and talking, and building, and praying involved. So take heed. If you think you stand, take heed lest you fall. Again, as a pastor, I don't want to sound conceited. I make people mad all the time. And I don't want to, but I'm just that way. I had a guy, kind of a nasty guy, text me the other day and say some ugly things. And then he said, you preach more from Paul than you do Jesus. OK, let me see. Everybody look. Everything Paul said, Jesus said. Everything Moses said, Jesus said. The words of Jesus are no more important than the words of Habakkuk.

John 3.16 is not more important than Amos 3 and 5. Why? Because every word is from the mouth of God. Man shall not live by bread alone. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God. Here it is right here. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. Holy men spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. There's no private interpretation. You can't categorize scripture. You can't say this one's more important than that one because this is the word of God. So having said that, as a pastor I've got a sense, a discerning spirit that you don't have. God gave me this, put it on me, trusted me with it so I could read the sheep, feed the sheep. Only a true pastor knows what I'm talking about. You see things others don't see. And you see people going, getting themselves in trouble. They don't see it, but you do. And you try to warn them. Gently instruct them. And I see this happening in this church and I've watched it for decades. People amped up for Christ, working for Christ and then for some strange reason they just say, I'm done.

I'm going to back off for a while. I'm going to take a little time off. You see if the devil can't make you quit, he'll make you slow down. Because slow down happens before give up. And so I preach it all the time. I preach it with my heart pounding. Something is wrong and I know it when people who are deeply involved in ministry suddenly say, I don't want to do this anymore. Ah, there's more to it than being tired. There's some kind of temptation, some kind of thing you are wrestling with and I'm talking to somebody today. All I'm going to say to you is ponder the path of your feet. Think about where this is taking you. You see, when you stop praying, earnestly searching God, when you stop feeding your soul the word of God, Satan has an advantage over you. When the devil came to Jesus after 40 days and 40 nights of fasting and he offered him three things, Jesus responded not out of strength but out of faith and said, it is written. And the Bible says, then the devil left him till a more convenient time. But just before that, you see, he was with the disciples and he said,

ah, ah, the evil one is coming. This is his time. But he has nothing in me. You know what that means? He says when I get arrested and Satan is using all of his antics and his people to destroy me, Satan won't find anything inside of me to use. You see, if you're not full of scripture, if you can't say quickly and readily, it is written. When that temptation comes, whether it's a way to make a little more money that's questionable or that person that's, for some strange reason now, looks pretty handsome. Hmm. Ah, she's a cute gal and she's talking to me. If you are not full of the word of God, you will have nothing to fight the temptation with. Because the word of God is quick and powerful. And the word of God is a sword. And without it, you are defenseless. And right now while I'm preaching to you, it may sound like I'm bold, but I am so weak on the inside because I've seen people. People fall for this hundreds of times. They're no longer in the church. They're no longer walking by faith

because they thought they could take some time off and back up and take it easy for whatever reason. And Satan said, just what I've been waiting on. Now I'm going to put the right thing in front of them, the right person in front of them, and all I can do is stand here and beg you and implore you, be reconciled to Christ. Get back on your knees. Get back in this book. Realize that this is eternal stuff. This is not a game. There's an enemy that wants you dead and destroyed. He wants people in hell. And the only way to keep that from happening is to follow the Lord with everything you have. Listen to these words. You, therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, since you know this, beware. Beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked. This is amazing. You, therefore, beloved, beware. He's talking to his brothers and sisters. Beware. Be careful. Take your stand. Take heed lest you fall. You could fall from your own steadfastness. Why? How? By neglect, by backing up, by quitting,

by listening to the devil. You can lose your own secure footing. How? By thinking that you can live this in the flesh, that you don't need to pray. I tell you, now I'm feeling desperate again. I cannot start a day without hours before God. Now I know what the laity say. Well, you can do that because that's your job. Okay. Whatever excuse you want to use, any way you want to justify it, all I'm trying to do is tell you the devil will not stop. He will not give up. He wants you destroyed. He wants to steal everything God's given to you. He wants you to fall on your face and fall from your own steadfastness. That's all I can tell you. So if you can get by on six minutes a week, go ahead and give it a shot. I can't. I got too many demons after me, too many devils. And I've got a God that's entrusted too much to me for me to let him down. I say this is warfare, and it's time to fight. And it's time to get serious about the day we live in, about the condition of the church. Oh, God, help me. I know we're going to do communion here,

but I got to preach. Somebody sent me an email the other day. He said, have you seen this? And I opened it up. Guess what, ladies and gentlemen? Ready for this? There's a new Bible out. It's called the Queen James Version. The Queen James Version, written by homosexuals to prove that homosexuality was never condemned by God, that Jesus never said a word about it, and that the word homosexual never even appeared in any Bible until 1946. It was written to deliver people from their homophobia. It was written so everybody could just love one another. And when I saw it, I said, uh-huh, this is the beginning of it. I saw yesterday in the news at a pride gathering. Was it in Europe? Somebody drove a car into the pride gathering. Lots of injuries. I don't know about the deaths, but here's what's going to happen. Mark it down. They're going to say, we've got to protect these people. And the thing that's causing people to do this is hate speech. And the hate speech really comes from the Word of God. And preachers preaching the Word of God are the ones keeping the people starved.

up. So we need legislation that says you are not allowed to use any, we're not going to take your whole Bible away, but you can't use Romans 1. You can't go back to the writings of Moses because that's hate speech. Just get ready. Now folks, this is where I get desperate and this is where I get in trouble. Some of you are living like you've got a thousand years ahead of you. Some of you are living like if I can just make another hundred thousand dollars, if I can just get a new car, if I can just get a new wife, if I can just, if I can just, if I can just, and what you don't realize is while you're just doing this, the devil is sowing seeds and stirring up discord and causing legislators to think about legislation that would outlaw what I'm doing right now. Jesus said, get ready for it. The day is coming. If they hate me, they will hate you. But you need to hear this, brothers and sisters, legislation doesn't bother me. Legislators don't scare me. The only one I'm scared of is the one that sits on a throne in glory and I will not disobey him. Pastor Greg, can you help me? Thank you, sir. So, we relish and cherish this ordinance of the church called the Lord's Supper because it reminds us of his body. I'm so thankful to be in the body of Christ. Oh, I am so thankful that he gave his body so we could be his body. And I'm so thankful for what this juice represents, the blood of Jesus. And I'm telling you, brothers and sisters, these things, his body and his blood, will keep you strong, keep you clean, keep you ready for the rapture. These things will make you hungry and thirsty for more of Christ. So, before I consume this and before you do the same, I want to say to the Lord with eyes wide open, thank you. Thank you for what this means. I've never seen your

real body, but I'm holding this up to say one day I hope to see it soon. And yet, Lord, I'm looking at it right now on this earth. We are the body of Christ and I thank you for the privilege. The songs that this choir sang today, Lord, brought tears to our eyes as we remember there is a blood that washes away sin, that opens blinded eyes, that keeps us strong. And for your sacrifice on Calvary's cross, we praise you today. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You can stand with me if you will. I'll let you get situated and then I want us to sing like a great choir. You know, at the beginning of the message when I mentioned the fact that we will all be glorified, whatever I am now, that's what I'll be in heaven, but glorified, the Bible says they sang to him from every tongue and tribe and nation. Worthy is the Lamb. Say that with me. Worthy is the Lamb. Thank you, Jesus. Everybody! Bless you. Thank you, Jesus. Older I get, older we get, when we have family dinners or something, I never leave the table without thinking, this could be the last family dinner. One of us could be gone next time. That's the way I feel this morning as I ask Sandra to come join me. This woman prays for you, church. Nobody in this whole congregation prays more for this church, including me, than she does. We love you. I have a daughter here. They're scattered about. We already raised them. We did our job. But now we're shepherding you for that notable moment when the trumpet sounds and we all

go to be with Jesus. So we pray blessings on you today, church. Some of you are in a quandary about what to do next. You find yourself caught between a rock and a hard place. Some of you are just plain empty. You don't know what to do next. But God does. And I tell you, if you trust in the Lord with all your heart, and you don't lean to your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him, He will direct your path. Oh, I want to see you on fire for Jesus. I don't want to see you backing up and slowing down. I want to see you like a locomotive, steam coming out the top and wheels turning. Because Jesus is coming soon. He's coming soon, praise the Lord. So we bless you in Jesus' name. Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight. Oh, Lord, my strength and my Redeemer, amen. We pray that today as you watch Pastor Livingston's message, you will be encouraged and ready to dig deeper into a life with Jesus. To help you on this journey, Central has two resources for you. First, you can sign up to receive Central's Jail and Prison Correspondence Course through the mail by writing to Central Church, Jail and Prison Ministries Discipleship Center, 5143 Sardis Road, Charlotte, North Carolina, 28270. Second, by using Central's app and clicking on the button below, you can read a short daily devotional that will encourage you to read and pray daily as you draw closer to Jesus. Thank you for watching. You