e e e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] all all [Music] oh [Music] for [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] for [Music] [Applause] [Music] l [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] good morning church family good morning it is amazing to be here in the house of the Lord this morning and it is good to see your faces at this time I would like to ask if there are any visitors to please raise their hands all right there are no visitors here I also want to welcome those of you who are here I want to welcome the people who are watching online it is a true blessing to be in God's house at the end of the week it is a true blessing to be here to worship His holy name and I would like you if you are able to please get up and walk around to somebody who you don't know and greet them in Jesus name like get up out of your seats and go and greet someone [Music] bless amen it feels even warmer as we greet each other in jesus' name and welcome each other into God's house [Music] that feels so much better when we're able to have True Fellowship in the house of the Lord so I thank you for that so on behalf of Baltimore white Mor church and Baltimore white Mor school I greet you all I see some people are still greeting which is fine which is good that is how you promote True Fellowship amen amen all right so I'm going to ask that you please stand with me as we pray to begin this morning's service our Lord in heaven we thank you for the blessings of this day of rest Lord we're thankful that you brought us here today Lord we thank you for those people who are watching online because they chose to watch this YouTube channel you inspired them for a reason to come you inspired them for a reason to tune into to our Channel Lord father we ask that you bless this service today help every person who participates to give your to give their best to you dear father because you deserve it above all gracious father we thank you for the blessings that is going that are going to happen today and we thank you for the blessings of this week with this Evangelistic service by Pastor glet Lord you are the author of all and Lord we know that you're writing our story of success in Jesus name we thank you and we praise your name amen amen please be seated and pay attention to the announcements on the [Music] screen welcome to another week where we are blessed with an opportunity to rest praise and give honor to our Lord and savior before we dive into this week's service we have some exciting announcements to share with you so let's take a moment to listen and Mark our calendar for what's coming up in the life of our church church family on Sunday October 20th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The Men's Ministry is offering a free car and health checkup this is a fantastic opportunity to have both your vehicle and your health assessed at no cost our car checkup Services include checking tire pressure fluid levels topping off wiper fluid inspecting wipers and other basic vehicle checks in addition we'll be offering Health screenings such as blood pressure checks oxygen level assessments temperature readings blood sugar testing and other basic health evaluations we encourage you to invite your friends family and neighbors to join us for this event it's a great way to take care of your car and your health all while enjoying fellowship with our community we look forward to seeing you there church family the shining stars Adventurer Club is hosting a fun pasta fundraiser from October 21st to November 10th this is a great opportunity to get some unique pasta products in time for the holidays while also supporting our Adventurer Club there are a variety of fun and delicious pasta options to choose from so be sure to see an adventurer to place your order and make a difference all proceeds from this fundraiser will go directly to helping the shining stars Adventurer club with activities supplies and events that enrich the lives of our young members let us come together as a church family to support our children and ensure they have everything they need to continue learning and growing through the adventurer Club thank you for your [Applause] support church family we are excited to invite couples to the weekend to remember marriage Retreat happening November 15th to 17th in Cambridge Marland this is a wonderful opportunity to invest in your marriage and enjoy quality time together to register simply use the QR code in the flyer to access the registration link and do not forget to enter the group name BW msda to receive $100 off the registration fee per couple if you cannot attend this specific weekend you can still register for any future events and use the same discount code for more information visit weekend tour member.com or call the number provided let us take the time to build stronger marriages because great marriages do not just happen thank you and God [Music] bless the Youth and Young adults and Family Life Ministries from the Baltimore White Marsh and Northeast 7th Day Adventist churches cordially invite you to Our Youth and Young Adult Galla on December 28th 2024 come experience a night of Fellowship fun and Spirit-filled entertainment enjoy exciting giveaways talented performances and a delectable meal to Delight your taste SP dress to impress and invite your friends and family for an unforgettable evening ticket sales and more details are coming soon mark your calendars you won't want to miss this spectacular event we can't wait to see you [Music] there and that concludes our announcements and reminders for this week as we transition into our time of worship let us open our hearts and Minds to the presence of the Lord have a blessed and wonderful Sabbath [Music] yes good morning church happy Sabbath um I know you've seen the announcement before about the health and um car and health checkup day but the Men's Ministry we are just here to remind you it's tomorrow starting from 10: to 2: and we' like you guys to show up and so we can help you to um you know take care of your car and get some health check and we're just encouraging you to come out tomorrow WI is coming and you want to be ready for the winter so the Men's Ministry will be here to assist you where R did you know that your spare tire needs at least 50 to 60 PSI pressure I don't know that and I went and had it checked out I think I had like 20 so there's no way I could use my spare tire you know functionally so we're going to check your your car we're going to help you stay ready for the winter all right all right see you there tomorrow okay yes so we have three other announcements that were not on there one of the first announcements I would like to make is as you see I'm dressed in a Pathfinder uniform cuz I'm part of the Pathfinder Club here the cloud Walkers we are having an induction ceremony this afternoon at 300 p.m. it's going to be for the adventurer club and the Pathfinder Club so we would like you to come out and to support us another thing is that in our Pathfinder club we have at least le 30 Pathfinders signed up this year amen however we have some instructors that are needed to help us with some of the classes so please let the holy spirit guide you and we're looking for some people to come out to help volunteer to teach our Pathfinders because we really need your help second announcement is piano we need a Pianist on a permanent basis starting into next year so we're looking for you if you know how to play the piano and want to give that talent to God or if you know someone who knows how to play the piano please see Elder Ivor um if you know someone we would really appreciate it we are looking for a Pianist and the third announcement is about our pastor October is Pastor Appreciation Day month rather and so we want to appreciate our pastor I know he doesn't want me to talk about him because he's a wonderful person so we' have divided into two if you're a woman please reach out to women's ministry sister Rosemary o can you stand sister Rosemary she's taking the the the monies for the women so you can give it to her and then from Men's Ministry you can reach out and give it to Raj so we'd like to collect all the monies so that we can do a presentation at the end of the month thank you and have a wonderful Sabbath good morning church family this is the time for our children's story so all the children that are here can you come so that we can collect the offering and listen to our story all the kyss that are in the house let's come and collect the offing [Music] okay hey buddy how you [Music] doing oh you're good it's right yeah yellow black and white they are precious in His Jesus love the little children of the world [Music] [Music] [Music] okay one more comment oh three more okay great [Music] [Music] okay yeah okay going for there yeah okay great do I have somebody that would like to pray anybody maybe one or two okay our 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 forgive us that trespass against us and lead us not into tempt ation but Deliver Us from Evil for thy is the kingdom and the power of the glory in Jesus name amen amen dear Lord thank you for the day thank you for waking us up thank you for having us be here at adventurers and we have to come back at 3:00 a.m. and make the glory but bless all all the children in here in Jesus pray amen amen amen Okay so some of you I know that many of you would like to pray so at the end you will pray okay are you guys ready okay all eyes on me all eyes on me okay okay are you looking at me hey all eyes on me okay okay I'm going to show you something oh some of you can see it over here okay some of you can sit over here okay I'm going to show you something okay let's wait for for the movement to to settle down okay if you know what it is I want you to raise your hand and tell me are we together I'm going to show you something if you know what it is just raise your hand and I will ask you you ready if you know what it is raise your hand okay what it is easy that's okay she is still thinking about it okay benu Ben what okay okay I don't know how much a boomerang oh you think this is a boomerang yeah wow Boomerang how many of you have actually seen a okay okay I see your hand I was going at the airport and I went to the airpl and the Flies okay okay I I'm I'm asking for now what do you know what this is a okay okay so somebody said it's a boomerang and another person confirmed let me ask you how many of you have actually seen a real boomerang you know this one I just made it yesterday this is paper and um I didn't try it because I don't know if it will work now what do you know about a boomerang what what what do you know that it come comes back to you oh that it comes back to you okay what do you know that you throw it okay what happens when you throw it it goes in the air and comes back H when you throw it it goes in the air and comes back to you you hm you think we can try this um maybe not one is I don't know if it will work because it's a paper and then secondly I can see quite a lot of people here I don't want to hit anybody but I know something that for sure you you can throw you can give and it comes back to you hm does anybody know what I'm talking about maybe not I have never thrown a boomerang before so I can't tell you whether when you throw it it will come back I don't know I've not tried it but there is something I have tried and he came back I gave it I did it and he came back and maybe some of you have done the same now I'm going to ask Penny to read a Bible text for me 2 Samuel chapter 1 verse 9 pay attention Okay David asked is there anyone still left of the House of sa to whom I could show kindness for Jonathan's sake wow David does anybody know who David is Who David was who was David anybody who was David dinosaur okay Z David was not a dinosaur okay okay we will know okay who was David a a human yeah David yes David was a human not an animal okay who was David a Shepherd boy a Shepherd boy what else yeah okay he killed Goliath with glass yeah he was the one that killed golad the giant okay he feeded Goliath okay yeah he killed Goliath any other thing he defeated the Bears yeah he defeated the bear and killed the lion any other thing there's one more um so he was going he was anointed by Samuel okay to be what to be the next king wow so David did all of these great things and the last one penny mentioned David was a king now before David became the king of Israel there was another king that was in place does anybody remember the first king of Israel do you know his name the first king of Israel anybody Alan Nebuchadnezzar okay not Nebuchadnezzar he was the king of Babylon the first king of Israel Saul Saul the first king of Israel was a man man called who King Saul can we say it together Saul you know when Saul was the king of Israel he didn't like David do you know why why he didn't like David anybody know why why okay because um so the people were saying that Saul killed that one thousands but David killed 10,000 oh yeah in those days when you go to war and you defeat an army and come back alive as you are coming back the whole Community will be singing your Praises they will be singing so one day David killed a lot of people their enemies and he was coming back and people were singing praises to David whoo David has killed 10,000 10,000 but Saul killed only thousand so Saul was sharing this come on people I am the king they said no but David did a lot of great things and Saul was not happy Saul became mad do you know what he wanted to do he wanted to do something do you know he wanted to kill David oh my because of that Saul wanted to do what to kill David but there was somebody in Saul's house that loved David does anybody remember the name of Saul's son that loved David Immanuel uh not Emmanuel Jonathan Jonathan while King Saul wanted to kill David Jonathan on the other hand was kind to who to David so he would tell David David I had my father planning to do this to you you better run you better hide and David because of all the things that Jonathan did for him he was able to run and save his life one day King Saul died and Jonathan also died and David became the king of Israel what do you think David will do now that he's the king of Israel what do you think he would do especially to the house of the man that wanted to kill him what do you think he would do so um before like um like before Jonathan got killed they made this um they made like a friendship treaty and basically they um so Jonathan gave um David bows and arrows and stuff like that and garments and he he said to David as long as I'm alive I will take care of your family and as long as you were alive you could take care of mine wow you know Penny I would have asked you to come and tell the story yeah before Jonathan died he made an agreement with David because of all the thing that he did for David all the kindness that he showed to David saving David providing him food you know taking care of him David said as long as I live Jonathan I'm going to be nice to you I'm going to do something for you so when David became the king of Israel do you think he kept his word yeah he kept his word simply because Jonathan was kind to him so when David became king one day he asked for somebody to find someone in the house of Saul so that he can show kindness to to the person just like the boomerang David returned kindness to the house of Saul and it happens to be the son of Jonathan his name was mefiboset yeah I know it's a long name can anybody try it meib buet okay good you guys got him so so David was able to show kindness it's a long story but I'm cutting it for you he was able to show kindness to the house of Jonathan now think about this Jonathan was the one that showed kindness to David but when David returned the kindness it wasn't to Jonathan it wasn't to any other person it was to Jonathan's son so the lesson there for us is that kindness is something that when we give it when we throw it it will return back but it may not be to us it may be to those who are connected to us it may be to our family members it may be even to our sons if you guys grow up get married and get kids the kindness that you show today may be shown to one of your kids or he may even be shown back to you by somebody so my point is this Ephesians 4:32 does anybody know how to read here Nora you know how to read okay can you read this for us be kind and compassionate to one another forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you okay all encourages us to do what to be kind H that's a big word how do you think we can be kind to one another how do you think by sharing food if they don't have any lunch by sharing food good by cleaning up your toys after you play with it even if you didn't make the mess by cleaning the toy even if you don't make the mess um by play W with together at recess by playing together with others at recess okay by being good by being good to help somebody if they need help by helping somebody if they need help so these are all okay one more um love one another and be kind wow that's a big one by loving one another so these are you want some and sh toys sharing toys also praying for one another so my point is the way we can be kind is all the things that we have just mentioned sharing caring and also encouraging one another can we do that yes you see when we are kind to other people we make the world a better place so kindness is like a Boomerang when you give it it surely comes back when you throw it it surely comes back when you are kind people will be kind to you do you think so okay if you think so do I have somebody who can pray anybody want to pray one and them and Zen okay let's pray with Zen and what's your name Amelia Amelia okay close your eyes let's pray and the father thank you for the day for my mom by something and E by and for me amen amen dear Lord hope you have a good day at church help us to be kind love one another and serve people amen amen amen okay you guys can return return to your seat stay with Mommy and Daddy okay or whoever br brought you to the church thank [Music] you welcome everyone let us stand for praise and worship at this time our first song I sing the mighty power of God number 88 [Music] I sing the mighty power of God that makes the Mountain rise that spread the flowing SE of and build the I sing the wisdom ordained the to Ru the day the moonshines full his command and all the stars oy I sing the goodness of the Lord that the Earth F he from the creatures wa words and them good the wers heart display where I turn my eyes if I the ground I all gaze upon the sky there's not a PL or FL that makes th Glory known and clise Anders Blow by from thy Throne creatures that borrow from the are subject to thy care there is not a place where we can [Music] free but God God is Amen Let Us continue with showers of blessing number [Music] 195 there shall be Showers of Blessings this is the promise of God there shall be season refreshing from thei above of blessings Showers of blessing we need Mercy us are fall but for the showers we plead there shall be Showers of Blessings precious Reviving again over the hills and the Val sound of abundance of rain showers of blessing Showers of Blessings we need Mercy around us are falling but for the shower we there shall be Showers of blessing send them upon us oh Lord grant to us now as refreshing come and now of th word Shout show of blessing Showers of blessing we need Mercy drops around us are falling but for the showers we plead there shall be Showers of blessing oh that today they might fall and now as to God confessing now Jesus we call Showers of blessing Showers of Blessings we need Mercy drops around us are falling but for the showers wead amen our last song face to face number [Music] 206 face to face with Christ myi face to face with it will be when Rapture behold Jesus Christ who died for me face to face shall I behold far beyond the star SK face to face in all his GL I shall see him by and now I him with the dark will be bless that day is when his glory shall be [Applause] seen face to face shall I behold for be star sky face to face in all his glory I shall see him by and by what rejoicing in his praise when is bre when the CR W are [Applause] [Music] St and the dark things shall be face to face shall I Behold Him far beyond the star sky face to face in all his glory I shall see him by and by face to face place for moment face to face to see and know face to face with my redeem Jesus Christ who loves me so face to face shall I behold far beyond the star face to face in all his [Applause] glory I shall see him by and by amen thank you it's that time of our service when we come to seek our Lord in prayer and as we have gone through a week that has gone by and we're going into another week we ask you to come forth if you want special prayer for any needs that you may have [Music] de Lord as we pray our hearts and are away from the breast of the world all around to your throne where Grace does [Music] May Our Lives be transformed by your love may our souls be refreshed from above at this moment let people everywhere join us now as we come to you in pray dear Lord we thank you so much for another Sabbath day where we can come to you dear Lord and just lay out all of our needs and our cares upon you father indeed face to face what will it be to see you face to face the Savior who took Away The Sins our sins dear Lord and redeemed us back to you he came and died on a cross a horrible death dear Lord so that he could redeem us back to you the father thank you Jesus we thank you Holy Spirit for pricking our hearts each and every day to lead us and to guide us through all the trials that we go through we thank you for the Heavenly angels that you send forth to give give us protection and to guide us oh Lord we thank you for a love that you give to us a love from our father oh we don't understand it we don't understand the sin thing dear Lord because if we did we would understand what it takes and what it goes through and so we have to live through this life so that we can be redeemed back to you so that when you come to take us home death will die and we will never want to go through this again amen and so father we come to you because you are our dad and we give everything to you you take away the cares that we have and you let us know that we will never be seen forsaken or begging for bread that we can cast all our cares on you so father we come and we lift your name up high because there's none like you you were there in the past you're in the present you're in the future you are outside of of time you are our God and our creator there is none like you and so we give you all glory and honor we say hallelujah and praise your Holy Name we seek you dear father and ask you to guide us forgive us for our sins against thee dear Lord and cleanse us from all unrighteousness father we are here and we're so different but you know everything about us you know every cell that's in our body as you created us you know everything even the hearers that are on our head and father because you know everything about you us we ask you to guide us go into our bodies the ones who are suffering from various Health trials and diseases mental health dear father and we ask you to do what no doctor can do and guide us and heal our infirmities father many of us come and we having issues with finances and we ask you dear Lord to guide us and see us through help us to realize dear Lord that we need to have faith and trust you and you will see us through and father we pray for our young ones the little ones we ask that you will guide them and help them to be trained to learn about you help our parents to train our children dear Lord realizing that training is not just about teaching them but also about doing and being great examples for them so be with our parents dear Lord as they go through their own trials be with them and guide them and help them to be the parents that they would have that you would have them to be we ask you to guide our marriages dear Lord be with us dear Lord Heal and repair where it needs to be done and fasten and bind the ones that are there in you and guide us there are so many challenges out there in the word dear father so much just stuff going on and so we ask you to be with our young people they at school in high school be with the friends that they choose be with the decisions that they make help them to know that they are a chosen generation and that they are for you and that they are your children and so guide them in their decisions that they make and their schoolwork be with the leaders of our church dear Lord guide them be with the pastor of the hour be with him that whatever he speaks it comes from you dear Lord and that we you will be glorified and so we ask you to be with the ministries of our church guide us as a unit dear Lord because in you we're one and so father we thank you once again for hearing our prayer in the name of your son Jesus I pray amen [Music] amen Your Love [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you all Raquel for that heartfelt prayer and now it is time for the tithe and offering for this morning and I wanted to encourage you that as you think about the tithes and offerings for the church I ask you think about the number of different hats that you wear some of you who are parents some of you who are cousins some of you who are sisters brothers there are some of you you who are teachers there's some of you who are nurses doctors or whatever your profession might be and all of the different hats that you have to wear you all do it well and there's a lot of things that demanded of you in your time to fill all those different hats when I think about the things that I do between work between things here at church the things at home the things that my friends ask I mean there's so many different responsibilities that we have and for us as a church our church here wears different hats when you think about it it is a place for learning during Sabbath school it's a time that we're learning when you think about the pl the fact that our Ministries do so many things to support the community we have the food giveaway we have the diaper giveaway those things also help to support the community we also have a place of Refuge this is a place where the number of people that come through the door and just say I came here for prayer I need someone to pray for me and it happens so many times during service please continue to collect it happens during church service that people just come in and just say this is a place where I came for prayer there have been a number of times just before prayer meeting people have ended up on our doorsteps saying I just came for this church to pray for me with a number of different hats that our church wears it needs to be supported because different Ministries do different things to support our church our church is also a place where our young people can be supported through Pathfinders and adventurers and Youth and Young Adult Ministries and all those things take time and they also take support our church needs your support the Evangelistic campaign it needs your financial support the fact that we have one air conditioning unit and furnace that has gone down unfortunately it needs your support it needs to be replaced this church is in need of support and support is prayer and support is financial support So as the Deacon and deaconesses are coming to collect the tithes which go to the conference and the offerings which support the church please remember to give generously to both tithe and offering because the offering is what supports us here I will ask the congregation to stand as we pray over the tithe and offering oh God our Father we are thankful with what you have given us that we can return it back to you as Thanksgiving Lord I ask that you bless the funds that have been collected Lord I ask that you multiply them and direct them in the paths where they may be most effective gracious Lord we thank you for this form of worship because without you we would not have anything to give and you've blessed us with so very much Lord and all you ask is a portion for us to return to you we don't pay tithe we don't pay offering we return it to you you dear father because you've blessed it and you given us the opportunity to earn so we can give back a portion to you Lord we thank you for all that you continue to give us and we thank you for blessing us each and every day in Jesus holy name amen please be seated [Music] [Music] good morning church family morning does anybody know why I'm standing here okay two things um but before I get to those two things I want to thank sister Sharon thank you for coming today thank you for playing can we give her a hand of Applause thank thank you sister [Applause] Sharon thank you we pray that God will continue to bless you and use you okay thank you so much church family maybe some of us are aware or no and maybe some don't I I just want to let us know that our church is long overdue for nominating committee does anybody know does anybody know the last time we did nominating committee it have been couple of years so in light of that I I want to say thank you to all those who are serving at the moment and for those who maybe step down for one thing or the other we want to say thank you we know that we have stretched you beyond the limit we know that and we are you know we want to say thank you thank you for your dedication thank you for your service your service is not unto anybody but it's only unto who unto God we are called to serve and as we serve one another we are serving the lord so having said that I want to let us know that the board met Tuesday last week no yeah that should be Monday Monday and the board is recommending that we begin the process of selecting new officers leaders for the church for next year I know it is an audious and a long process but with your cooperation with your help with your commitment I know that it is not going to be a long process why am I saying that we need your help and what the CH Bo is recommending is for us to begin the process next week Saturday does anybody know what next week Saturday is the date October 26 so October 26 please come to church ready and come to church willing to to get involved in the process what am I trying to say before the church selects the nominating committee that select the leaders of the church the church first of all have what we call the organizing committee the organizing committee is the committee that will meet and then nominate the nominating committee and the nominating committee will now go and begin to select and and nominate people that will lead I know it's a long process but by God's grace and with you Corporation will be able to make it work and we can make it faster so what I'm trying to say is this next Saturday we are going to be nominating the organizing committee what that means is that we are going to come up here and we are going to ask the church to nominate people that will become members of the organizing committee so it's going to be done from the floor there are two ways you can do it one way is to ask the church to nominate maybe seven or five or seven people add them to the board and let that group form the organizing committee but the board is recommending rather than go that way which is one of the ways let's go with the second suggestion from the church manual and that suggestion is come here don't worry about the church board let's nominate fresh set of people that will form part of the organizing committee and that is the pro the the the the direction that we want to bring to the church so in other words come next Saturday what are we nominating the organizing committee then the organizing committee will meet and then nominate the nominating committee and then we'll present them to to the church so my point is come and be willing to serve come and be willing to help come and be willing to dedicate your time your your energy your means and your talent to the service of the Lord the the second thing I want to point out is um again who knows what is currently going on here in Baltimore White Marsh who knows half of the church doesn't know this is serious Paula I'm sister Karen I want all the Deon and diones that are here today to bring in the flyer I want everybody to have a copy of the flyer for the forecasting hope that is currently going on this is the second week and some people didn't even raise their hand halfway the hand was completely down indicating that they are not aware well maybe it's because of my fault or the leadership fault but if that is the case we want to make a change we want everybody to have a flyer whether they have it or not please give everybody a flyer so that they will know that we are having our forecasting hope Friday Saturday Sunday and when Tuesday just four days four days we are encouraging the church just as we are here we are expecting everybody here to come and support the program do you know why that is important do you know why it's important for you to show up for me to show up there may be somebody that will come to that program and they will be able to connect with you they may not connect with me they may not connect with IAL they may not connect with d but they may connect with you you may be the one that will make an impact in somebody's life so if you don't come and the person shows up guess what that connection will not be made because I believe that God has somebody he wants to connect with you as you plan to come and support the program in light of that at the end of the service we are going to be collecting a special offering as we are stepping out of the church so there will be deons dickes you know maybe Pathfinders at the door so by the time you are planning to go out if you have something to give to support the ongoing evangelism please do that at the door if you don't have change with you for me I don't normally carry you know cash we are going into a cashless Society if you want to donate online you can go to the church website and you will see on the donation tab you will see forecasting hope evangelism you can give online so if you don't have the the money here it's okay so we are going to be doing that at the end of our Saturday's service until the end of the program because we still need some resources Financial Resources in order to help to get the things that we need and make sure that everything is in place for the success of the program already already Pastor David is going to share this I'm not going to take it from him already God is doing amazing things already God is doing amazing things am you don't believe me I was expecting to hear an amen that will shake the foundation of this building already God is doing amazing things amen that's what I want you to say and believe me God is doing amazing things in the life of the people that are coming just like me and in the life of our visitors that are coming and attending and we have some of them here in our midst Pastor Dave will also recognize some of them because we want to welcome them in a special way when the time comes so some of them are here in our midst worshiping with us giving God the glory because God is worthy of how many praise all all the Praises so remember 26th October nominating the organizing committee at the end of the service there will be an offering if you cannot give now you can give online and also let's continue to pray for the effort that we are doing because God has called us to go our duty is to do what to go don't worry about converting anybody just go say Lord here I am use me and send me that is all that it takes after the Bible reading today and a short video that will play the next voice you are going to hear is the voice of Pastor David kanders he is the man that God has been using to bless our church and our community for those of you that have been coming has the message been a blessing if it has been a blessing let me see your hand up amen you may think oh these are things I have known before I've heard them before you know there you just need to come once and you will never miss it again so God has been using Pastor Dave he has a passion for evangelism he has a passion for winning Souls from the kingdom of Hell bringing them into the Kingdom of Heaven that is his call and just like all of us but he has dedicated his life and um God is using him in a mighty way he has been doing this for the past 27 years you can imagine that winning Souls going on God's errand night and day Pastor Dave has been on the road so let's continue to pray with for Pastor Dave as he continue to share let's continue to help in our own little corner because God has called not only the pastors but he has called everybody Pastor David is here to walk with us he is the one that will be sharing the message today for the hour and as he comes I crave your Indulgence to give him your undivided attention so that he can share the word of the Lord with us today the wife Makita is not here with us they are blessed with two children two daughters Melanie and Emily Emily has been here with us Melanie has been in school so she has been coming you know sacrificing everything all we need is just to support so let's support them let's support the church let's support the work of God and as we do that may the Lord bless us in Jesus name amen amen our scripture reading for today will be taken from Luke chap 19: 9 and 10 and Jesus said unto him this day is salvation come to this house for as much as he also is a son of Abraham for the son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost may the Lord bless the hearing Unholy of his word amen e a little bit of the video intro that we do each night at the meetings in the evening and I won't repeat what hope says I will just say they are a blessing do you know the first night there were seven people who said I want to be baptized and follow Jesus one day soon first night and after this weekend there are 10 people or more who have said I I need to take that step with Jesus I looked at cards last night some people mark I want to have someone study the Bible with me I want to visit with someone God is doing things here in the White Marsh church and that is why Pastor hope is encouraging you to come out each night and I'm just going to say this because I've learned this after 27 years God blesses more when his church is here and I believe that God will do even more if we are here and add to the Revival God wants to do in the lives of not just people in the community but people who are right here in part of this local congregation well I feel blessed to be here I see some friends from the seminar that are here I'm not a whole role with the Hawkins family I see Bill and April are here I think I saw Bill here glad to have you Tim is here I'm probably missing somebody somewhere as I look over here but we're so glad that you are here this morning to partake in a worship service and if this happens to be the first time that you are at a Saturday morning worship service we want to welcome you amen and if maybe you're wondering why do you have worship services on Saturday anyway just keep coming to the seminar we'll cover that at some point there is a reason why this church worships on Saturday but that is not the topic of the message today where I want to talk about a very familiar story in Scripture that you've heard many times and we think we understand it but we're going to come at it from a different perspective and so now that I hope you got your curiosity up and if you listen to the scripture reading then you probably figured out what story it is but before we look at it we need to pray amen we don't want to look at it in a halfhazard way but we want to invite God's spirit to take something that is familiar and make it new to our hearts let's pray Heavenly Father Lord as we gather together in this this worship service this morning Lord we're not ones that just want to go through the motions we are thanking you Lord that you have given this church a spiritual momentum that your spirit is working throughout this place and so now Lord we just simply present ourselves to you and we're surrendering our hearts we're surrendering our time and we're saying Lord this time is yours to say what you need to say and do what you need to do to draw Us close to you we ask it in Jesus name amen I want to begin this morning by asking you a question how many of you have ever experienced rejection in your life can I see your hands now see notice half of you didn't raise your hands even though I know all of us have experienced some part of rejection because the truth is this is not something we like to talk about because it is usually connected to painful memories from the past that we would much rather forget perhaps there was a time when you started a new job and you really wanted to fit in with your co-workers and do well but for some reason it didn't work out and you experienced rejection or maybe there was a time when you went to a new school and you really wanted to make new friends and fit in and to be part of the group but for whatever reason you found yourself on the outside and you experienced rejection or maybe there was a time when you were involved in a close relationship and you loved that other person but for some reason they chose not to love you back and you experienced a very painful rejection I remember one of the first times I experienced rejection in a major way I was about 13 or 14 years old and I had just graduated from the little church school there in York Pennsylvania where I grew up now in the church that I grew up in it was just simply expected that once you graduate from the eighth grade at the church school guess where you were supposed to go next you were supposed to go to the boarding Academy which for me was about an hour and a half away well I didn't want to go because I was more of a homebody I liked being home I didn't really like being put in new situations and I had a hard time making new friends but because all of the friends I graduated with were going to the academy I figured I probably should go there too and unfortunately it was one of the worst experiences of My Teenage life not because there was anything wrong with the Academy I was just not mature enough to be able to handle it and I can remember that when I was there to be honest I was actually a little bit nerdy I had a hard time making friends again I didn't like new situations and people made fun of me and I remember one day in particular that I was in the lower level of the dormatory the basement where the laundry room was cuz I I was going to do my laundry you know cuz when you're away at school whether it's high school or college you don't have Mom and Dad to do your laundry anymore you got to do it yourself and so as I made my way to the laundry room what I didn't know is that on the other side of the corner there was an upper classman waiting for me and as I I walked around the corner he just walloped me in the face with a pillow now of course it didn't hurt me physically it was just a pillow but it wounded me emotionally because I knew that was a sign that I was not accepted and I can remember going back to my room throwing myself down on my bed and just crying and it was just a few weeks later I left that place and I never went back again it's an awful thing to know that you're not accepted isn't it but you know what's even worse it's even worse to feel like you're not accepted by God to be constantly wondering does God love me does God forgive me am I going to be good enough to make it to Heaven that's an awful thing to go through life wondering if if he accepts me and this morning I want to share with you a story from scripture about another man who asked those same questions because he had felt rejected by God because he had been rejected by men so I want to invite you to take your Bibles and turn with me to Luke chap 19 beginning in verse one now I don't have slides this morning like we do in the even so we're just going to do it the oldfashioned way today you're going to have to look it up in your Bible or on your phone and follow along with me because as you look this up in Luke chapter 19 could someone kindly tell me this is the story of who what ma'am it is the story of zakus or zakus however it is that you want to pronounce it and we think we know this story real well in fact many of us grew up as kids in Sabbath school or maybe Sunday school we grew up with the song about zachus how many people remember the song can I see your hands really I thought there'd be more than that well guess what we're going to do we're going to get in touch with our inner child for a moment and I'm going to invite you to sing the song with me would you do that I should have got the praise team up here to do that you know the song right so if I start it you're going to join in okay don't don't make me do solo that's not my gift all right are you ready zachus was a we little man little man was he he climbed up in a sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see and as the Savior pass that way he looked up in the tree and he said zachus you come down for I'm going to your house today for I'm going to your house today very good did you get in touch with your inner child I should have made the kids come up here and help me with it but there is a reason I had you sing the song did you know the zachus of the song is not the zachus of the Bible you see children's songs are kind of sanitized they happy gol lucky and that's the way they're supposed to be but when you actually look at the story of zachus in the Bible it differs a bit from what we might think of the song because normally we think oh poor little zachus everybody made fun of him they didn't treat him nice they wouldn't let him see Jesus oh poor little zachus but the truth is the reason zachus was hated is because of his own willful intentional choices and so as we go through this passage today I want us to try to see the story of zakus with new eyes as the Bible describes it for us so I want to begin reading in Luke chapter 19 and I'm going to read the first four verses use your imagination picture this in your mind the Bible says then Jesus entered and passed through what city Jericho now behold there was a man named zachus who was a chief tax collector and he was what rich and he sought to see who Jesus was but he could not be tell you something about the city of Jericho because it will help us to understand the context of this story Jericho was not some small oneor town out in the middle of nowhere Jericho was an important city of the Roman Empire in fact it was one of the business capitals of the world if you were a business person taking a trip in the first century chances are at some point you would have found yourself in Jericho it was a city of international trade it was a place where people came to make their fortune and there was a lot of buying and selling and exchanging of money in in that City and because of that there was a particular profession that was very well known in that City would you like to guess what profession that was it was tax collecting because wherever there's money to be made the government is always there to get their hands on it that's a universal principle and so there were many tax collectors in that City and so the Bible introduces us to one in particular known as zachus and the Bible not only describes him as a tax collector what does it say he was a chief tax collector which leads us to believe he had much Authority in that City that he had something to do with much of the tax collecting that occurred in that place perhaps he had authority over other Tax Collectors perhaps he was a bit like a CEO of a of a company because he was a chief tax collector and as a result of that the Bible describes him as a man who was very rich or wealthy but unfortunately zachus gained his wealth through dishonest practices by living a life without Integrity by choosing to take advantage of others now to paint this picture let me share with you what a tax collector was in first century Judaism because it's not like we would think of today is is there anything morally wrong with being a tax collector today yes or no oh you didn't you're not sound very confident there now I I understand you may not like paying taxes but is there anything morally wrong with being a tax collector today there's not but you got to understand back then when Rome conquered Jerusalem they did what every conquering power wants to do they wanted to extract taxes from the people they conquered but they knew that if they sent their own soldiers into Jerusalem and all their other cities to take taxes from the Jews they knew that would be an allout war and a blood bath so what they did is they would take Jewish men and they would hire them to be the tax collectors for Rome and it was up to those Jewish men to take taxes from their own people and give it to the Roman enemy and so any man any Jew who agreed to be a tax collector for Rome was considered to be an absolute traitor someone who turned their back on their country and on their people and was giving money to the enemy and so as a result people wouldn't eat with them they tried to avoid doing business with them they wouldn't speak with them and the Pharisees would not allow them to worship most of the time within the synagogue you see there was a cost to being a tax collector and you might wonder well under those circumstances why would any Jewish man agreed to be a tax collector if you were ostracized by your own people well why do people do things today that they know is wrong why do people sell drugs on the street that are going to kill others and hurt children and Destroy families one simple reason that's right because there's money in it and you see to be a tax collector from Rome one of the perks was you could collect as much as you wanted as long as you gave Rome their share so that mean if zachus came to your house and you expected that you only owed 500 he could collect a th000 and he would take 500 and give it to Rome and guess what he does with the other 500 he puts it in his pocket you could scream if you want you could pitch a fit you can call him any name you want but you had no choice but to pay the taxes or Rome would come in and take everything you have zachus didn't care if you had bills to pay he didn't care if you had little mouths you needed to feed he was in it to to get rich quick like every other tax collector not only that tax collectors were also known as those who live a somewhat immoral lifestyle do you ever wonder why the Bible says puts them all together Tax Collectors prostitutes harlots Sinners why does he put tax collectors in there I want you to think about this you have a bunch of men who have a lot of money who are ostracized by by Society these are the guys who like to get together on the weekends and have a good time are you reading it between the lines these are the guys who always got a good party to go to and you can know the kind of parties I'm talking about actually I hope you don't know the kind of parties I'm talking about but let's just say the kind of parties when the lights go and the lights go out things happen that you'll regret for the rest of your life that's what a tax collector's life was that is like what zachus was like or at least that was the kind of crowd he hung around and was influenced by that my friends is the zachus of the Bible a man who lived a life of dishonesty a man who took advantage of others a man who enriched himself and that is why people did not like zachus it's a little different from the song isn't it have you ever met someone in their in your life or maybe you are me at some point you knew you were on the wrong road you knew that you were making the wrong choices you knew that at some point it was going to catch up with you and hurt you and hurt your family but you were having a hard time resisting because there was either money in it or there was popularity or there was some kind of fame or power or acceptance from others that you had a hard time getting off that path even though you could hear God's voice saying this is the way walk ye in it this is what zakus is experiencing and if you ever have the opportunity to read a book called The Desire of Ages the author speaks in depth about this story and the author of Desire of Ages tells us that there began to be a point in zakus life where he started to feel conviction of about the life he was living and the chances are strong he began to feel that conviction because there was a particular man who was preaching down by the Jordan River and baptizing people you know who that guy was yeah not Jesus not yet John the Baptist and remember as John the Baptist preached by the Jordan he told the people the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand in other words Jesus is coming re repent turn your hearts towards God people flock to hear him and people ask the question what should we do to be saved and different groups would ask that question and if you remember the story it says there was a group of tax collectors who were there and they said to John what should we do and John's answer to them was what collect no more than you are required now to you and me that would make Common Sense uh to first century Judaism and tax collectors that was a revolution tionary idea kind of like the idea that politicians should tell the truth today you know that's common sense to you and me a revolutionary idea in politics there is probably a strong possibility that zachus was one of the people at the Jordan River listening to John preach and even if he wasn't the response that John gave to the tax collectors I'm sure reverberated all throughout the tax collecting Community live a life of honesty and integrity collect no more than you are required and zachus heart was convicted and deep down inside he wanted to be changed he wanted to be on a new road but he had been on that old road so long he didn't know how to change have you ever experienced that in your life where you've been doing something so long or you've been on a path so long you you don't even know where to begin he couldn't go to the Pharisees they didn't want anything to do with him he couldn't go to the people because they rejected him and he certainly could couldn't go into the synagogue on Sabbath morning because all the Pharisees ever told him is you better get your life together before you approach a holy God don't you dare come to God in your current condition and if you really believe that where do you go who do you go to and so this conviction reverberated in zaki's heart until the day came when the teacher came to his city of Jericho now zachus had never met Jesus in person yet but I have no doubt he heard about Jesus can you say Amen see I know today we got you know this Twitter and Instagram and all this social media stuff news just goes around the world just like that in real time back then it was the old-fashioned word of mouth but you know what word of mouth can travel pretty pretty fast too amen and so I know he had heard about Jesus he had heard about this teacher who said things differently that he actually healed the Blind and the deaf that that that he he was actually compassionate towards the sinner that he actually went to parties of the tax collectors that this teacher taught that you can come to God just as you are and he will accept you and he will begin to work change in your heart and so when zachus heard that this Jesus had come to Jericho he was determined that he was going to see Jesus for himself that he was at least going to hear some of the words of life that came from this man and even though the Bible doesn't directly say it I have a feeling that not only did zachus want to meet Jesus I have a sneaky suspicion that there was a particular disciple of Jesus that zachus would have like to have met would you like to Guess Who that would be Matthew because what was Matthew before a disciple of Jesus a tax collector a man who came from the same side of the street a man who had been in that same lifestyle and now here he is changed accepted a disciple of Jesus and zachus must have thought in his heart that maybe there's hope for me that maybe what happened to Matthew could happen to me and he longed to see Jesus and so when word reaches his ear that Jesus is in Jericho he went out to meet him as fast as he could and when he got to the place where Jesus was he was sorely disappointed because the Bible says already there was a large crowd surrounding Jesus you know it kind of seemed like wherever Jesus went large crowds surrounded him you know makes us wonder if the church is like Jesus if the church is supposed to be like Jesus shouldn't that be happening today shouldn't there be large crowds surrounding the church shouldn't there be large crowds wanting to hear the message of Salvation And while I recognize people have freedom of choice is it possible that even today the 21st century church needs a little bit more of the character of Jesus the character that accepts people as they are but helps them not to stay the way they are but the first step is love and acceptance that's the first step that anybody has to have and so as Jesus or rather as zaku approaches the crowd he realizes he's not going to get anywhere near Jesus and part of me wonders if he was maybe hoping for a person personal interview for a little private time with Jesus and now he knows no way that's going to happen but zachus was determined now let me ask you a question how many of you have ever been to some event where you were caught in a crowd that was so tight you could hardly move and get through it anybody ever experienced that I mean if you've ever been to a big concert you've probably experienced that if if you if you have ever been to a general conference session you've probably experienced that on a Sabbath morning or maybe you just experienced it driving on 695 every day like I do a crowd that you can't get through I remember when Marquita and I we were able to do a a study tour in Israel about 20 years ago before we had kids and I remember we were there for about 10 days we had an instructor who took us to the sites and we we were studying as we were there and I remember Friday came now never forget it on Friday the instructor says to us I'm going to give you the afternoon off and I just want you to go down the old streets of Jerusalem and just wander through the shops and the marketplaces and imagine what it was like 2,000 years ago see you got got to understand there's an old part of Jerusalem that looks a lot like it did 2,000 years ago except for the television antennas and then there's a newer modern part of Jerusalem so he told to walk through the old part and marqu and I are doing this we're going in the shops we're watching the people are trying to imagine what it was like except there was one thing the instructor didn't tell us Friday is the holy day in the Islamic religion and in Jerusalem is one of the most holy sites of the Islamic religion it's called The Dome of the Rock mosque 12:00 on Friday because you know they pray five times a day 12:00 on Friday is when the most people come to the Dome of the Rock for the time of prayer kind of like you come at 11:00 on a Saturday morning when that time of prayer was over at the Dome of the Rock on Friday at 12: hundreds of people flooded out of that mosque down through these narrow streets of jerus I'm talking about you know not not much wider than than the width of my hands thank you so very much not much wider than the width of my hands and Marque and I got caught in that crowd and I'll be hon I was scared I remember that crowd was so tight I put my hand in one pocket and put my other hand on Marquita now you know why I put my hand in my pocket yeah I didn't want to be pickpocketed and the crow swayed back and forth I was really afraid that if we tripped and fell that we would get trampled it took us over an hour to get out of that crowd I was so frustrated if the crowd Around Jesus was anything like that I can understand why zachus could not get through and it's not like the people were going to get out of his way oh I'm sorry zachus am I in your way oh please come forward on top of that zachus couldn't see over their shoulders why because the Bible says he was of short stature now I don't know exactly what that means it just simply means I guess that he was much shorter than the average person so he couldn't see but zachus doesn't give up zachus was determined if he is this close to Jesus he's not going to let any obstacle stop him and so he kind of calculates which way this crowd's going to go runs down that road he sees a sycamore tree whose branches hang over you know the walkway and he says you know if I climb up into the tree then I can at least see this man and maybe I can even hear a few of the words that he speaks because remember how how fast to large crowds travel not very fast so they're going very slow he could hear some of the words of life and that is what he did and I want you to read how Luke describes what happens when Jesus walks under that tree which by the way did you ever wonder why Luke recorded this you you know that none of the other gospels record this story as far as I remember Luke is the only one who records this story and that tells me that there must have been something about this story that Luke was inspired to believe could touch the hearts of future Generations 2,000 years later so that means there's somebody here today October 19 2024 that this story is for I don't know who it is but there's somebody here today this story is for verses 5- 7 the bible says and when Jesus came to the place he looked up and saw him and said to him zachus make haste and come down for today I must stay at your house whose house his house so he made haste and came down and received him joyfully but when they saw it they all complained saying he has gone to be the guest with a man who is a sinner picture this in your mind the crowd walks down that very pathway where zachus was they pass underneath that very tree and nobody notices the short little tax collector in the tree because if they had they would have surely ridiculed him to scorn but Jesus notices the tax collector in the tree trying to listen of all the people in that crowd Jesus is focused on the one man who though he has lived an awful life the one man whose heart is the the most open at this point in time to hear the words of life because Jesus can hear the silent Cry of zachus his heart can you say hallelujah and see that tells me that Jesus hears our Silent Cries today amen see Jesus hears the cries of my heart that nobody else knows what's going on when I'm in my bedside at night the lights are out people have gone home or my family's in bed and I am pouring out my heart I am crying out my eyes Jesus hears the Silent Cries of my heart even when I'm walking down the wrong path cu the truth is no one may know that when the party is over and the music stops playing and everyone else is going home and I'm in the darkness of my house and I'm feeling the loneliness I'm feeling the discour enouragement because now the music is over and maybe the drugs are gone and maybe the substances that make me feel good for a temporary time all that is gone and I'm left with my lonely self my discouragement my depression the desire in my heart to need and want something better and there I am in my home crying out to God and nobody else knows that but Jesus hears the silent Cry of the heart Jesus hears that silent cry no matter what road I may be aren't you glad that Jesus hears the cries of Hearts today amen and Jesus hears his cry and he turns to zachus I keep wanting to say Matthew he turns to zachus and says zachus why don't you come on down and Zach is probably wondering why is he going to scorn me to is he going to ridicule me and point me out in front of everyone is this teacher the same as everybody else in this city and then Jesus finishes the sentence come on down zachus today I'm going to be at your house now I want you to understand the significance of that in the Middle Eastern culture going to someone's house to share a meal is a big deal hospitality is highly valued you know when a guest comes to not put a meal before your guest is considered a shameful thing so if you go into someone's house to eat with them that is a signal that you accept them that you respect them that you consider them to be a person of worth and value and so the fact that Jesus said he basically invited himself to dinner when you think about it I'm coming to your house that told zachus you are accepted and that's exactus what what zachus needed to hear because that's not what he heard from the Pharisees of his day he needed to know that he was accepted even though he was on the wrong road right now and so the Bible says that Jesus went to his house and when the crowd around him realized that Jesus is going to the house of zachus they turn on him and they say look he has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner Jesus you couldn't find someone In This Crowd who's more upstanding a good righteous citizen who follows the law who knows God who doesn't cheat and take advantage of people you couldn't go to his house you got to go to zakia's house and they turned on him be careful because that's what the world will do to you the world may offer acceptance the world may offer pleasure for a while there may be friends who want to stay with you and who party with you but the minute the money is gone or the minute your mind even starts to think about spiritual things those same hands that are patting you in the back will stab you in the back those same mouths that were speaking praises to your name will talk behind your back because that's what happened to Jesus they turned on him but Jesus didn't care because he knew what his mission was he had come to seek and to save the lost and that right now was zachus and maybe today right now that might be you or that might be me that God is wanting to do something big in our lives and so I want to read the end the rest of this story now as Jesus goes to zakus house and describe what happens there and what was the result of Jesus Simply Having a meal with zachus verses 8-10 the Bible says then zachus stood and said to the Lord look Lord I give half of my goods to the poor and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation I will restore how much fourfold and Jesus said to him today salvation has come to this house because he also is a son of Abraham for the son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost now I don't know how long Jesus was in zakia's house the Bible doesn't say but I'm going to assume this was not a 5-minute visit he was there for quite some time to share a meal and whatever it is they talked about and you know what when I get to Heaven someday I'm going to ask Luke why didn't you tell us what they talked about wouldn't you love to know what happened inside that house I would love to know and I want to ask Luke why didn't you record that but whatever happened inside that house it chain zachus because he experienced acceptance and the acceptance made him want to change see we think oh if I accept someone they'll stay the way they are with their bad choices and their lifestyle and the things that they are doing no no no they've got to experience love from you first so that the Holy Spirit Can Break Down The Walls and convict them of the things that might need to change in their life what have we said in the seminar Jesus accepts me the way I am but he doesn't want me to stay the way I am he's got something better for me and when zachus experience that acceptance he comes out of that house and he decides I'm going to return everything that I have stolen that I've been dishonest about fourfold now did Jesus tell him to do that no he did it on his own or perhaps we should say he was following no doubt the prompting of the holy spirit because you see when people experience true love and acceptance that breaks down the barrier it opens the door for the Holy Spirit to work and pretty soon they'll begin to make the choices that we were hoping they would make and we Badger them about and bugged them about but now the holy spirit is doing it because theyve experienced love and acceptance that's what's happening here with zachus and then Jesus makes the statement that this whole po passage is about he says today salvation has come to this house now don't miss what he says the the the the most important word in that whole sentence is the first word what was the first word today not tomorrow when you prove yourself not tomorrow when your behavior is perfect not down the road when you prove that you're sincere and genuine today salvation has come to this house for he too is the son of Abraham and that tells me on the day that I choose to accept Jesus the day that I choose to to come to him and surrender just as I am I receive the gift of salvation but Pastor what if there's still things in that person's life that shouldn't be there listen you got to take the first step first come to Jesus as you are when the life is surrendered the holy spirit will do a work in that person's heart that they cannot do for themselves and what are some of the lessons we get from this story number one Jesus accepts me cuz when you have Jesus as your Sav that means the perfect life that Jesus lived it counts for you and when God looks at your record of your life in the time of judgment he doesn't see all your sins and all your mistakes he sees the perfect life of Jesus that now counts for you and God looks at you as though you have never sinned that's what righteousness by faith is that's what it means to have Jesus as a personal savior that's what it means to be fully loved fully forgiven and fully accepted in the name of Jesus Christ and the second lesson Jesus not only accepts me Jesus changes me because the point of following Jesus he's not going to leave you where you are he's not going to leave you in the gutter with all the bad choices all the the things that are bringing you pain what would be the point of accepting Jesus if you have the same old decisions the same old pain in your life he wants something better and so he accepts me to work with me and now he begins the process of changing me see he accepts me in an instant the process of change doesn't happen in an instant does it that's more of a process as the Holy Spirit works with me and I learn what it means to surrender and sometimes I fall and I got to get up again but Jesus doesn't leave me during that process C see your salvation is not up and down ooh this week I did good I hope Jesus comes this week I'll be saved oh this week wasn't so good boy I hope he doesn't come this week cuz I would be lost and we're up and down up and down up and down that's not salvation Jesus accepts me as I am and he continues to work the change in my life as I choose to surrender so I'd like to end with this story because I got to let you go because I want you to come back tonight I remember meeting a blind man at a at a camp meeting I don't remember which camp meeting it was and he told me a story I've never forgotten he said Pastor Dave I used to be an attendant at a car wash you know a car wash by a gas station cuz he wasn't totally blind he was partly blind he could still see enough to work and he told me about how one day there was a very long line going through the car wash and you know in long lines people get impatient they get irritated they say things they shouldn't say and there was this little old old lady driving her car in that line and she didn't quite know what to do she hadn't gone through a car wash before there's all these mechanisms and things were close together she wasn't sure what to do and people were getting irritated there honking had her what are you doing lady go forward go in the thing and this blind man said that he just stopped walked over to where the car was opened the door and said ma'am can I help you she said I don't know what to do and so he took her by the arm he led her over to the side cuz you know old ladies don't walk very fast so he led her over to the side walked back to the car drove it through the car wash out the other side came back and got the lady by the arm walked her back to her car and she got in have a nice day ma'am all the while people behind her cursing at him yelling what are you doing you're taking so long I ain't got all day and then one of the next people that came to the car wash motion to the blind man The partially blind man said come here I saw what you did for that lady you must be a really good person and the blind man looks at her and says ma'am any good thing you see in me was put there by somebody else any good thing you see in me was put there by somebody else today if you want to ask Jesus to put that good thing in you he will do it because it's his work and he accepts you the way you are and he has a journey to lead you to a place that's better than where you are right now just like he did for zachus As we sing Our closing song just now I'm going to make a call an appeal now I'm not going to talk during the closing song I'm going to make the appeal right now but it's a different kind you can go ahead and get in place it's a different kind of call so I want you to listen carefully if today you would just simply like to say thank you Jesus for accepting me thank you for being with me in my journey even in my mistakes even some of the roads maybe I've been on in my life I just want to say thank you for accepting me and I ask you to please keep working in my life this is a call for everyone it doesn't matter whether you've never been to church before or you've been to church for 50 years you're simply coming forward to say thank you Jesus thank you for accepting me please keep walking with me and taking me where you want me to be if that's the desire of your heart you want to say thank you Jesus on the first verse you'll see me step down here before the Altar and that'll be your cue to come forward while we're singing you don't have to say anything just come forward while we're singing the song and at the end we'll have a special prayer of dedication before we go home so first verse I come down that'll be your cue to come forward and your simp saying Lord thank you for accepting me let's stand as we sing Our closing song I believe it is a song that I would rather have Jesus number [Music] 327 i' ra have Jesus than silver or gold i' ra be his than have riches unold i' rather have Jesus than houses or land I'd ra be L by his na hands then to be the king of a v Dom or beheld in s dread S I had Jesus than this world of for to i' ra have Jesus than men Applause I'd rather be faithful to his dear Calla i d have Jesus world F i' ra be true to hisy name and to be the king of [Applause] [Music] a or beeld in sin dress way i' ra have Jesus than any this world of for to day one more he's Fair than lies of rarest bloom he's sweeter than honey from out the he all that my hungering needs I'd ra have Jesus and let him leave to be the king of a vast or beeld in sin Dre s I'd ra have Jesus [Music] this world aord to today we've been blessed to say thank you Jesus and before we depart from our worship service this afternoon perhaps we should take it another step farther like we did last Sabbath then maybe there's someone here today that is not only saying Lord thank you for accepting me being with me on my journey the ups and the downs the good and the bad but maybe there's some here today who are saying it's it's time for me to choose to be baptized one day soon we've set aside some dates on November 2 and November 9 or it could be any date you choose really but I just want to give you that opportunity before we go home today that maybe if there is a young person an old person a man or a woman who would like to say yes I know Jesus accepts me and I want to choose to prepare for baptism one day soon I want to invite you to raise your hand wherever you are even if you've already marked it on a card during the series raise your hand let other people see there are others who are making this decision praise God my young man but maybe you haven't been to the seminar maybe you haven't made that choice yet raise your hand as well I want you to see the hands that are raised I I want you to be able to visibly see what God is doing here in Baltimore White Marsh nobody's coming along and saying hey you better put your hand up this is God's spirit and if there's others here would like to say yes yes I need to make that choice to be baptized soon what I would invite you to do is right after prayer as the others are being dismissed if you raised your hand to be baptized would you just meet me here in the front Pew I just want to have a special prayer just for that group before we leave today okay so after we have the the the big prayer the congregational prayer if you raised your hand to be baptized or even if you didn't and you want to be baptized would you just join Pastor hope and I just up here in the front Pew just for two minutes we'd like to have a special prayer just for your decision and so that I know Pastor hope knows who you are so let's pray heavenly father thank you so much for stories such as this in the Bible even the unsanitized versions of this story the real versions thank you for showing us that just like what happened to zachus is exactly how you feel about us thank you for accepting us thank you for being on this journey with us thank you for being with us even on the detours that we may have taken and as we leave this place we pray that you'll bless each person that the joy of Jesus would be in their heart and we thank you for those who have raised their hands to say I too want to be baptized one day soon we ask ask all these things we pray it in Jesus name amen amen so I going invite you as you return to your seats those who raise their hands if you just meet me here on on the front row before we go home today and then we'll see you back here tonight at what time 7 oh now y'all really worried me there what time 7 yeah 7 o'clock tonight we're going to talk about the 70 weeks God bless you my friends amen I know that the Lord that began us will finish it when he comes so as you are stepping out of the church if you have anything to give towards the offering please you can do that