Good morning, church. Good morning, church. It is good to see all of you today.
I just wanted to greet you on behalf of Baltimore White Marsh Church and school. And as is my practice when I get up here, good morning is not just good morning and we just look at each other and say good morning. I'm going in. I invite each of you to get up from where you're sitting, walk across the aisles, and say good morning to people.
And I would like to ask if there are any visitors, please raise your hands. And I want people to greet those people in a very special way. I do understand that we do have visitors in the church this morning, and I want those people to be greeted warmly.
So please get up, walk across the aisles, and greet someone in Jesus' name. Thank you. Amen.
So now that we've greeted one another, I want This morning and we have another baptism this evening. No one sounds excited. And we also have a baptism next week. You all are not happy this morning. You just walked around and greeted one another.
You should be happy to hear that there are new souls who want to be baptized in the name of the Lord. today and next week. Amen.
Thank you very much. I want to invite each one of you this morning that as we pray, as the service begins, to not only pray for the Holy Spirit to dwell on this place today. I want you to pray for the baptismal candidates that will be up here dedicating their lives to God. Amen? One of the other things I want which is not going to be in the announcements that will play, is that there is going to be a fellowship lunch right after church.
So if you don't know where the fellowship hall is, as you go out the doors, just go to your left, make a right, go through the school wing, go down the stairs, and if you can't find anyone, just follow the crowd. That's one of the few times I'll say follow the crowd or ask one of the members of the church where the fellowship hall is. So that's directly after service today.
I would like people to stand up. And I want us to prepare our hearts with prayer for this morning. Our Father in heaven.
We are tremendously thankful for this opportunity to praise your name on this Sabbath day. Lord, I ask that you bless everything that takes place in the church today. Help this service to be an amazing service, Lord, where we show you our love.
And Lord, help us to be infected so much by what we hear and what we see that we may go out and tell other people. Let us go out and tell the world about Jesus. Tell the world about his love.
In Jesus' name, amen. Please be seated and pay attention to the announcements for today. Happy Sabbath, Baltimore White Marsh family, and 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 calendars for what's coming up in the life of our church. Church Family. The Men's Ministry is hosting its fourth food distribution event from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
This event is part of our mission to support our community by providing fresh produce and food to those in need. We ask for your continued support and prayers as we try to make a meaningful impact on our community in the Spirit of Christ. As it says in Matthew 25 verse 35, For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. We look forward to serving together and sharing God's love through this important act of kindness.
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. Church Family.
We are excited to invite couples to the Weekend to Remember Marriage Retreat, happening November 15th to 17th in Cambridge, Maryland. 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 BWMSDA 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 WeekendTourMember.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 bless.
The youth and young adult and family life ministries from the Baltimore White Marsh and Northeast Seventh-day Adventist churches cordially We invite you to our Youth and Young Adult Gala on December 28, 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 buds. 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 there. Join us for He Lives Hymns Festival featuring the Baltimore Symphonic Band. Experience an evening of beautiful music and celebration as the band, our talented musicians, and vocalists perform the loved hymns in a stunning live performance.
This in-person event will take place at... Baltimore White Marsh Seventh-day Adventist Church on Saturday, November 23rd at 4 p.m. And it is a perfect opportunity to immerse yourself in the uplift of music surrounded by fellow music lovers. Don't miss this chance to be inspired and move. by the timeless melodies of classic hymns.
Get ready for a memorable evening of musical enchantment. So gather your friends and family and come just as you are to enjoy an evening of celebration and inspiration. Hymn Princess.
As a reminder, as we approach the end of Daylight Saving Time, Remember to set your clocks back one hour this weekend. This change will take place on tomorrow at 2 a.m. So before you go to bed tonight, don't forget to fall back an hour.
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. Happy Sabbath everyone. That almost concludes our announcements.
I'm here on behalf of Youth and Young Adult Ministry and Family Life and I just wanted to give a little bit more information. So the flyer that talked about the gala that's coming up. We are really really excited about it. It's the first one and we're hoping that this will be an annual event for our youth and young adults.
So we're gonna have a flyer available on the the website, the church website, and then at the end of the service we'll have this come up again. But you can get your tickets here if you scan the QR code. The tickets are $65 per person and you can purchase electronically. People who have trouble with electronic, if you need to do cash or something, you can see one of the youth or young adult leaders. But we are planning for this to be a really fun time for our young people.
We want them to dress really nicely, formally. We have a photo booth, a 360 photo booth. We're going to have someone take pictures and some music. We have vegan options and regular food.
So please tell all of your friends and family, school friends, everybody, and just find a way to get a ticket. Okay. Amen.
Amen. Oh. I should leave.
So it is now time for the children's story. I'm going to ask the children's story and children's offering, actually in reverse order, children's offering first. So I'm going to ask all the children to please come up, please grab a basket and circulate your way around the church and pick up the children's offering. Just for information, the children's offering goes to help our church school. So I ask that you please give generously.
Thank you. All right, children, make your way back up front, please. Thank you.
Thank you. That's the new one. Good morning, thank you so much.
Thank you. Sit there, take a seat. Take a seat.
Sit there. All right, amen. So we're going to pray over the offering.
Please bow your heads with me. Gracious Father, we thank you for these children that have come up today. We thank you for the offering that they've collected.
Lord, we ask that you bless our church school where these funds will be going, and we ask that you continue to bless our church school. them, help them to continue to educate our children, and Lord, we ask that you bless the children's stories so that these children this morning may be able to hear a story that will guide them to you and strengthen their bond with you. In Jesus' name, amen.
Thank you. Good morning. Do I have anybody here who's nine years old? Nine?
Nine? Two? Anybody else? Three nine-year-olds?
Oh, you guys are going to have to answer most of my questions because you know the answer. You're fine. Yep. Okay. So listen.
When I was nine years old, I had a friend. She came over to hang out and play with me. And we had a good time and she brought a very special toy that when I was nine years old, they had just started making them.
And I was very, very interested in this toy. Okay, I'm going to show you guys a picture of it. I know you'll know what it is. You guys know what this is? It's a Rubik's Cube.
Yes, a Rubik's Cube. Do you guys know what you do with a Rubik's Cube? Yeah. You have to match the colors.
I was very bad at matching the colors, but I really, really loved this Rubik's Cube and I didn't have one. Only my friend had one. So when she came to my house and she brought her Rubik's Cube, guess what I did with it?
I did something very bad. I did. I took it and I hid it under my bed.
I did. And I hid it very, very well so I knew she couldn't see it. So I I hit under my bed. I know, I know.
That's my whole point of my story is that that was really bad. I should have... Okay, let me tell you the whole story. Okay, ready?
So I hit under my bed and my friend's name was Donna and Donna was like... She went home. She forgot about her Rubik's Cube.
She left it there. She went home and then the next day when she came over she was like, I can't find my Rubik's Cube anywhere. And do you think I told her where that Rubik's Cube was? Nope, nope.
I still had it hidden under my bed, and every night I would go, and I would try to solve it, and I'd play with it. Of course, I didn't solve it, because I was very bad at it. But I tried anyways, and she would come over again.
Three days later and she's like, I can't, I've looked everywhere for my Rubik's Cube, I can't believe I lost it. And she was very upset because that was a very special gift. But that Rubik's Cube is still hiding under my bed. And it stayed under my bed for a long time.
so long that we finally moved away. And I stopped being friends with Donna because we weren't living there anywhere. And it stayed with me when I went to high school.
So I started nine years old. I still had it when I went to college. And I still had it when I was older and I moved out.
And do you think I ever felt good about having that Rubik's Cube? No, I felt bad all that time. But I couldn't take it back. because it was too late.
But the story is that you want to be very careful about things like that, right? You do these little things that you think aren't a big deal, but I broke a commandment, right? Which commandment did I break? Which one?
Stealing. Thou shall not steal, right? Right?
God said we shouldn't steal. And I know it's easy. Sometimes you see something you really, really want, and it could be a friend, somebody your friend has, because you really want it.
Or it could be something in a store, and you think, oh, nobody will know I stole it. But do you think somebody will know you stole it? Who will know you stole it?
Who will know? Up there. Who up there?
Who knows everything? Think of it. Jesus.
Yeah, right. Who knows that you stole it? God.
God knows you stole it, right? Yes? Is that who you think knows?
Sometimes your parents know, too. So if somebody watches you on camera, yes. But what we want to know is that we know that it's not right to steal, right?
And I don't want you guys to feel guilty many, many, many years later when you're a grown-up and you have your own kids and you still feel guilty about that Rubik's Cube you stole when you were nine years old. Right? So every time you think that you want to take something that doesn't belong to you, even if it's your brothers or sisters or your cousins, I want you to really think that's not the right thing to do because God told us not to steal. Okay? All right.
Thank you for listening to my story. Don't steal anything. Okay?
All right. You can go back to your seats. Happy Sabbath Church.
Happy Sabbath. Let's stand as we continue with our praise and worship. What a fellowship, what a joy divine, leaning on the everlasting arms.
To fellowship or to joy divine, leaning on the everlasting arm. What a blessedness, what a peace is mine, Leaning on the everlasting arms. Leaning, leaning, Safe and secure from all alarm. Leaning, leaning, Leaning on the everlasting arms. Oh, how sweet to walk in the pilgrim way, leaning on the everlasting arm.
Oh, how bright the paths close from day to day, leaning on the everlasting arm. Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms. Lean in, lean in, lean in on the everlasting arms.
What have I to dread, what have I to fear? Lean in on the everlasting arm. I have blessed peace with my Lord so near.
Lean in on the everlasting arm. Lean in, lean in, safe and secure from all alarm. Lean in, lean in, lean in on the everlasting arm. Rejoice if you're in heart, number 27. Rejoice, if you are in heart. Rejoice ye pure in heart, rejoice, give thanks and sing, Your first albanner wave on earth.
The cross of Christ the King. Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice!
Give thanks and sing. With voices full and strong, as oceans searching praise, send forth the stern names of old, the psalms of ancient days. Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice in thanks and spirit!
With all the angels quake With all the saints on earth Pour out the stream of joy and bliss To rapture noblesse Rejoice! Thanks and sing Yes, on through life's long path Still chanting as we go From year to age by night and day In gladness and in hope Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice, King, and Saint. Praise Him who reigns on high, The Lord whom we adore.
The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, one God forevermore. Rejoice! Rejoice!
Rejoice! Give thanks and sing. Please be seated. Good morning.
Happy Sabbath. Now's the time that we can come before the Lord and give all our burdens and thanks and praise to him for all that he's doing in our lives. So this is time for you to come up.
Any kind of burdens or any thanks or praise you want to give to God, you can come forward now and we'll pray. God says to come to him and lay all your burdens down, because he's able. As we pray, take our hearts and minds far away, from the prayers of this day.
world all around to your throne where grace does abound may your lights be transformed by your love. May your souls be refreshed from above. Alleluia. At this moment, let people everywhere join us now as we come to you in prayer.
Our Heavenly Father, we come before you and we praise you and we thank you for the privilege of being in the house of prayer. You call your house a prayer. So God, we've come and you said that where two or more are gathered in your name, that you will hear our prayers and answer them according to your will. So Lord, we give you all the petitions in our lives, Lord.
Our life belongs to you, Lord. We ask you to empty us of self and fill us with your love. us with your Holy Spirit.
Guide and direct us, Lord. And God, we know that the world is falling apart out there, Lord, but we know that you done won the victory. So God, we lay it all at your feet and we pray for our brothers and sisters, Lord, who are out there who don't have any hope, Lord. We're praying for their salvation, Lord. We pray, God, that your will will be done in their lives.
And Lord, we just pray for all the sick among us, Lord. Lord, that you will touch them and heal them, O God. We pray for those that need jobs, Lord, that you will provide. God, we just pray whatever the need is, Lord, you know each and every one of us by name.
So we give it all to you, and we praise you, and we thank you, God, because we know that you've done working on it already before we even spoke, Lord. But you tell us, ask not and we receive not. So Lord, we're asking and we're praising you and we're thanking you in advance because God, we know that your will is for all of us to be healthy and prosperous in you and doing your will.
So God, we pray that you will bless our service today. Each and everything that happens here today, may it be a blessing and an honor and a glory to you, Lord. We thank you and we praise you and we give you all.
the honor and the glory in Jesus' name. Be with our speaker now as he speaks to you when he comes to speak, Lord. And we just thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Good morning and happy sabbath.
Okay we can do better than that. Good morning and happy sabbath. Okay I want to thank every one of you for coming today. We have a full house and I know that there are many visitors that are here today.
I know that God has brought you here today because he has a special blessing to give to you and it is my prayer that God will meet you at the point of your need. Today, I want to recognize a special, when I say special, I don't mean that they are different from all of us, but he is somebody that has been a pillar in this church for many years. He served as an elder, and the wife also worked with our children in the Sabbath school and other aspects and ministries of our church. I am talking about Dr. Roger and them girl boys.
Would you mind standing? Thank you so much. We are glad to have you today. Thank you so much.
As you know, Dr. Boyd, they are retired. um i don't know if they are tired but they are still working for the lord so thank you thank you for all the things that you did in the past you know there is a song that said we will be remembered by the things we have done so we keep on remembering you thank you thank you for coming and at the same time i want to recognize all the visitors that are here probably you are here for the first time or maybe you have been here long ago and you are here today. If you are a visitor in our midst, can I see you stand? All the visitors?
It's okay, I'm not going to ask you to come forward. Okay, okay, amen. Amen. Thank you for coming. Thank you for joining us today as we fellowship and worship our maker, our redeemer, and our God.
Amen. At this hour, I want to share, you know that we started a process last week. The organizing committee that is responsible for putting together the nominating committee. I know it's a kind of a lengthy process.
So today, I just want to share with us. the names of the people that have been selected to act as members of the organizing committee and these are the names so like we said these seven names came at the top when we did the the tabulation they came at the top uh in that order and then we have paula langley nico cowell charles wadi raquel gosling George, Calvin, Cowell, Elder Ivor, Quashi, and Rosemary Okolon. These are the names that the church has selected that will go, remember, of their names selected for organizing committee.
This is not the nominating committee. They are going to go meet and select the nominating committee. So the nominating committee is the one that will now... Select the leaders for the church for next year. My point is this.
If you have any questions regarding any of these names, please talk to me or you can speak to Edda Ivor. It will not help to form little groups and discuss the questions and the concerns within those little groups. It will not help.
Talk to me or you talk to either Ivor. If there is anything that is discussed in the little group which didn't come to us, I will not recognize that as a concern. The church will not recognize that. So if you have any...
please talk to us so that we can by the way all the names have been called they have been notified and they accepted to work and to serve in this committee so we thank God for that so We are going to, if there is no concern, by next week we are going to, you know, do a vote. And then accept that these are the people that will work as the organizing committee. Then I will meet with them so that we can begin the process. Is that okay?
Amen. Amen. We thank God for the things he has done. Mighty things that God is doing in our church. At this hour, I want to invite...
How many of you know what is currently going on in Baltimore White March? here. How many of you know what is currently going on? That's why I'm wearing it. Forecasting hope is currently going on and we are more than halfway into the program.
Those of us that have been coming, I know that you will agree with me that it has been a what? A blessing. Even for me as a pastor, It has been a blessing. So, we thank God for what he's doing with Pastor David Kleindes, Makira, and Emily, and all others who are volunteering in one way or the other including those working with our children, we want to say thank you. Thank you for the work that you are doing.
You know, one thing is that when we go forth laboring, weeping, and crying, the son said that... we will come back what rejoicing bringing in the shaves today god has touched the heart of many and some of them have volunteered no not volunteered have made a commitment to go all the way to baptism and um interestingly we are going to have one this morning and there is going to be another baptism tonight guess what next saturday November 9th we are having another baptism so God is blessing God is multiplying his church and the kingdom of hell will not stand it Amen so at this hour I want to invite those that will be baptized today both the morning section and the evening to come to the stage I have met with them I have asked them a couple of questions they have answered in their affirmative but I also want you to know where they stand. What they shared with me, I also want you to hear directly from them to know the commitment they have made to follow Jesus.
So all the candidates, can you come up? Including the one that will be baptized in the evening. Let's put our hands together for them. Amen.
Amen. You can come all the way. Okay.
Church, we know that baptism is not the end of the road, right? Baptism is not the graduation. Rather, it is the beginning of our walk with who? With God. these candidates, these precious souls have made this decision.
Let us continue to lift them up in what? In prayer as they walk this walk with the Lord. So I'm going to ask you like we discussed over there. And this is not a test.
Okay? This is just for the people to know where you stand and in order for them to also continue to pray. Now, the questions I'm going to ask you are these.
Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and personal Savior? Amen. Are you willing to commit your life to Him and to follow Him wherever He leads?
Amen. Do you accept the biblical teaching that there is one God that is comprising of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit? Amen. Do you believe that all these three are working together for your salvation and for my salvation?
Amen. Do you accept the Bible teaching that the Bible is the inspired word of God? And that we are to follow its counsel and its precepts. Amen.
do you believe that the 10th commandment is still binding today including the fourth one that says remember the sabbath to keep it holy and is it your desire to honor and to keep holy the fourth commandment the sabbath day of the lord amen do you accept the biblical teaching that we are saved by grace and grace alone through faith not by obedience to the law do you believe that that we are saved by grace and grace alone. Amen. Do you accept that Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
And is it your desire to do everything by the grace of God to keep your body, including not eating things that will harm your body, not smoking or injecting yourself with things that will harm your body? Is it your desire to preserve your body and to keep it holy to the Lord? Amen.
Do you accept that upon your baptism, you become a disciple of Jesus Christ and that you represent him wherever you go? Amen. Finally, do you accept that Jesus is coming again and that is it your desire to prepare to meet the Lord when he comes?
Amen. Church, these are the candidates. You have heard them.
They have... answered in the positive that they have accepted Jesus as their Lord and personal Savior and that they are willing to go with him all the way to the end amen I will need somebody to move move a motion that upon their baptism that we accept them into the membership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church here at Baltimore White Marsh, going all the way to the conference, the union, the division, and the general conference. I see a hand up there. Any seconder?
I see a seconder. All in favor, can I see a hand up? Amen.
Amen. So, we are going to get ready. They are ready already. I am going to get ready, and in the next couple of minutes, we will be doing the baptism here at the baptismal pool. So keep praying for these precious souls because the devil is not happy.
But we know that greater is he that is with us than he that is in the world. Amen? Amen. Thank you and may God continue to bless you. So Church Family, at this time, it is time for the tithes and offerings to be received.
And as I remember correcting some people, we don't pay tithes and offerings, right? We return tithes. and offerings. It is something that we return back to God because he has blessed us incredibly and we return our tithes and offerings back to him. The tithes and offerings for today is for a local church budget and just to give you an idea of where we are as far as our budget is concerned our church is in some financial pain we have had some instances where some of our equipment we have had two of our furnaces stop working and we've had to replace those we've had some damage that's happened to our farmhouse which is where we have our school principal where she lives and we had to replace some of our We had to replace a bathroom there because of a water leak.
We unfortunately have another furnace that has stopped working in this half of the church over here. So we've had some financial issues this year. And unfortunately, our insurance company has not covered most of those concerns.
So we've continued to take money out of our church savings to do that. So our church is now in some financial distress. And what we're asking you to do over these next several weeks... is that if you haven't brought enough today to continue to bring something extra to give to the local church offering, not tithe. Tithe is different than offering.
The tithe goes to the local conference, which is Chesapeake Conference. The offering is what stays here and makes those repairs, and it also funds the different ministries. So remember that tithe goes to the conference. None of that stays here.
The offering is what stays here. and helps to operate this church. It helps to pay for the lights. It helps to pay for the air conditioning.
It helps to pay for the heat. It continues to fund all of the ministries that do the amazing work at our church. So I just want to remind you that over the next few weeks, please bring a little bit extra for offering so that our church can be in a position where we can continue to bring you the type of service that God would be proud of. Amen.
It takes a lot to maintain this building. This building is 22,000 square feet. It is 26 years old this past March, and occasionally things start to break down.
So we need your help to continue to fund those things in our church. Amen? And as the deacon and deaconesses come forward, I'd like to ask the church to stand as we begin to pray. Oh Lord, our church has many needs, and Lord, you can supply them.
Lord, we ask that the funds that have been collected to go in the appropriate areas, and that you multiply what's been collected. Dear Father, we ask that... you grant favor upon our church with the bills that we have and the expenses that are before us.
Gracious Lord, we thank you for all those who are able to give. And Lord, we ask a special blessing on the offering today and the offerings that will be collected in the future, dear Father. help our church to continue to stand strong financially.
And Lord, we ask that you continue to bless people to give generously. We thank you, dear Father, for what we have to give and return to you. Amen.
Please be seated. I I It's you Amen. Amen.
Amen. This is the time for us to do the baptism and before we start I would like us to pray. Dear Lord and our Father, we thank you for the gift of life.
that you have given to each one of us. Thank you for today. Thank you for the gift of the Sabbath.
For I hear today our souls, precious souls, whom you have redeemed. They are making a commitment to follow you and all the way to baptism for as we perform the baptism today I pray that you continue to lead them guide them bless them in Jesus name Amen amen yeah But the first time I saw you, I saw a potential in you. And I know that God has been working in you and then he will continue to work in you. You have demonstrated such a desire to learn, to follow him, and you have made a commitment today.
publicly to show the world that you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and personal Savior. So it is on your commitment and your desire to follow Jesus that I today baptize you in the name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I'm sorry. Come for a second. Bellis. Yes. God is a God that loves you.
God is the one that have called you. The fact that you have made a commitment to follow him shows that you have accepted his calling. And I pray that the God that has called you will continue to be with you, not just for today, but for the rest of your life. rest of your life.
And because you have decided to follow him, it is on your commitment and your desire that I today baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Yeah, Ernesto, wow.
My brother, the very first time I saw you I knew that you didn't come by yourself. God brought you. And connected you with a friend that has been there all the way.
Don, thank you so much. Thank you for connecting with Ernesto. Thank you for working with him.
Ernesto, I... Watching you and the things you have been doing shows me that you are on fire. You have started serving even before you make the public declaration. And next time, I pray that the Lord have called you.
will continue to be with you, will continue to bless you, and will continue to use you for mighty things that are ahead. Ernesto, it is on your commitment and your desire to follow Jesus that I today baptize you in the name of the Father, of the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Thank you. Thank you. Amen. Amen. Thank you, church, for witnessing the baptisms.
Like we said, we have another section in the evening. I would encourage all of us, just as the church is filled up today, this hour, for all of us to come back. in the evening so that we can also witness the baptism of one of the greatest families that i've ever met the hawking family if you don't know them you need to come tonight so that you can meet with them.
They are a family that is on fire. Right from the first day they showed up in this church. So let's come and also support them as they commit to the Lord all the way to baptism. Thank you so much.
May the Lord continue to bless us. Let us pray. Dear Lord and our Father, we thank you for the baptisms of your sons and your daughter that has just happened.
I know the whole of heaven. heaven is rejoicing. Father, I pray that you continue to be with them.
I pray that you continue to lead them. I pray that you continue to guide them and that you will be the one that will stand by them. when the journey seems tough and thorny.
Heavenly Father, I know that there are many who are here today who will also want to take this step. Father, I pray that you continue to walk in their heart, O Lord, and help them to get to the point of making it. making a decision for you. So that as we all give our life to you, we will continue to strengthen and encourage each other, even as we see the day of your coming approaching.
Thank you, Father. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Thank you so much.
Okay, today's scripture reading is Matthew 7, 37 and 39. In the last days, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth in me, as the scriptures have said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this speak ye, as the spirit which they that believe on him shall be. receive for the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified God bless his word and the hearing of his word in Jesus name I give a happy Sabbath to you. Wow, I think Sabbaths like this, when you're able to visually witness lives being changed, are special.
Amen? Now you may not know all the stories of the people that were just baptized, that will be baptized tonight. next weekend as well. But I know some of their stories and they know their stories and it always represents a miraculous journey of something that God's Holy Spirit is doing inside the human heart.
Amen. And I believe that some of you are here today, whether this is the particular church where you attend or whether you happen to be visiting or from somewhere else, I believe that you too are here for a reason today. We've been blessed to be able to go through a seminar or a series of meetings called Forecasting Hope. I've been blessed to meet many people.
Now, some of you in this church I already met before because we did something here five years ago, so I recognize you. I remember you, Roger, too, as well. I think that was in 2019. And then there's some of you that I just met during the seminar, and I've seen God do a work in your life.
And so I'm privileged to be a part of that for a time. And I decided that today what I want to talk about is something that is so essential for the Christian life, and something that's also so misunderstood, and that is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Now before I pray and go into that, When you came in to worship this morning, you should have gotten from the registration desk a card that looks like this. And so I want everybody to have an opportunity to have this card because I'm actually going to be making an appeal at the end of the sermon. And I want you to have the same opportunity that people have that have been coming to the seminar.
So if you have not gotten a card like this, would you kindly raise your hand and some of our ushers and hosts will be glad to give you a card. get you one. So just raise your hand up if you will. I'm not going to call you up front or anything, but I want to make sure you have this card in your hand for when I go over it a little bit later in the message, because I believe when you open up the Word of God, you always give people opportunity to make important spiritual decisions in their lives. So if you want to just keep your hand up, we'll be sure and get you the card because I'd rather you have it now than try to do it at the end of the message when we're making the appeal.
So just keep that hand up and they will give it to you. In fact, what I'm going to do now actually, even before I pray and start the sermon, I'm actually going to go over the card with you right now because I want you to have the opportunity to be praying as we go through the message and asking God. Is there something that you would have me mark on this card? And there is something for everyone, whether you just walked into the church for the first time, or you've been a Christian and a follower of Jesus for 50 years, there's something on this card for everyone. So notice, the first box says, the teaching, now it says tonight, we're going to pretend that it says today, okay, this morning.
The teaching this morning was clear. It was a blessing to me. If that ends up being true at the end of the service today, you're welcome to mark that box.
The second one says, I've got questions about what you talked about. If you have questions that go through your mind as we talk about the Holy Spirit, I invite you to write those questions upon the back of the card, and we will use them maybe for a question and answer session later, or someone from our pastoral team will help to answer your questions. The third box says, I desire to follow Jesus and be baptized. You've just seen some baptisms take place.
And as we open up the Scriptures today, if you sense that it is time in your spiritual journey to make a decision to be baptized one day soon, I want to invite you to check that box. And that doesn't mean you're going to be baptized today necessarily, but you're saying, Pastor Hope, I want you to help me prepare to be baptized in the very near future. And I want you to understand the question is not asking you, do you have everything together in your life?
It's not asking you if you have certain desires or tendencies that you might struggle with. It's not asking you if you've overcome every sin in your life. It's asking you if you have the desire to say, I want to follow Jesus and I want to be baptized one day very soon.
If that's the desire of your heart as we go through the message today, you can mark that box. The fourth box says, I'd like to have a visit from a member of the pastoral team. And I've learned in 27 years of ministry that many times people just need to sit down and talk and ask a question in a private setting and pray together.
They need some encouragement. If you'd like to sit down and talk for a few minutes about something that God's laid in your heart, you can mark that box and Pastor Hope or myself will be in touch with you. And then lastly, the last box says I have a prayer request.
On the back of the card, you can write a prayer request. Because we have a prayer team that meets every evening during the seminar and they are literally praying over every request that you hand in and so you can know that someone is taking your request seriously for whoever it is or whatever situation it is and they will be lifting you up in prayer to the Creator God of Heaven. And so at the end of the service today there'll be some deacons or pathfinders standing in the back with a blue bucket. You can simply choose to hand in your cards.
at the end of the service. So with that being said, I think it's best that we get on to the sermon part today. And all I need to know from you, are you ready and prepared to open up the Word of God and ask the Holy Spirit to move upon our hearts? Yes or no? Can I hear you say an amen?
Because I've been praying for today. And I believe if you're here today, that God's brought you here for a reason. So let's pray as we open up God's Word.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we're thankful to be able to gather together on this day that you have set aside. Thank you for giving us the gift of Sabbath, where we can rest our minds from the worries of the world, where we can connect with you in a special way. And so just now, Lord, we are claiming your promise. You said that where your people are gathered together, your presence would be there. And we are asking now, Lord, that just as you did in the book of Acts, that you would send your Holy Spirit.
Spirit upon us. That you would send your Holy Spirit to move in this sanctuary, to speak to our hearts, Lord, so that this will not be some ordinary service where we just go through the motions, but that we can sense your very presence is here and that you yourself are speaking into our hearts. This is our prayer and we're asking it in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.
A few years ago, I was given two of the greatest gifts that I had ever received. received in my life. Now it happened like this.
When my oldest daughter Melanie was about eight or nine years old, Christmas time was coming. And she went to my wife Markita and she said, this year I want to pick out my own gift for daddy because you know when kids are little a lot of the time mom goes and helps them pick out the gift well this time melanie says no i don't want your help mom i want to pick out my own special gift for daddy so marquita had to drive her to the mall, and they meandered their way through the men's department store. And at that time, Melanie's favorite color was what? Pink.
Eventually, her eyes set on a beautiful, bright pink shirt. Now, unfortunately, they couldn't find that shirt in my size, so they had to move on. And eventually, she came across this very bright and beautiful pink tie.
Now Marquita knew that at that time in my life I didn't wear pink. I didn't think pink was a manly color and so I refused to wear it. And so Marquita tried to talk her out of buying the pink tie.
But if you have children or raise grandchildren then you know when a child has their heart set on something it is awfully hard to change it. If somebody here knows that that let me hear you say amen. And so they had to buy the pink tie.
So Father's Day morning I opened up my gift. The pink tie is staring me in the face and what do you think I said? Oh honey thank you.
what I always wanted and I began wearing the pink tie to church to all my speaking appointments and I began telling the story about the pink tie just like I'm doing today but a few months later Christmas time was coming And the youngest daughter, Emily, whom you know from the registration desk, she started to take notice that daddy was bragging a lot about this pink tie that her sister got him. So come Christmas time, Emily went to Markita and said, This year, I want you to take me to the mall, and I want to pick out my own gift for Daddy. And so that's what they did.
Markeia went back to the mall. They meandered their way through the men's department store. And eventually, Emily... had her hopes set on this very bold iridescent purple tie. And it's bold enough to match her personality, believe you me.
And so they bought the tie, wrapped it up, and when I opened it on Christmas morning, what do you think I said? Oh, thank you, honey. It's what I always wanted.
And then she came up to me and she said, Daddy, are you going to tell stories about my tie like you did Melanie's? I said, yes, honey, I will. And then a few minutes later, Melanie comes up to me, whispers in my ear, and she says, you know she just got you that tie because she's jealous of mine, right? I said, honey, I do realize that. But you know what?
I got enough love in my heart for both my girls that I can wear both of those beautiful ties. Can you say amen? And so now I have these ties, even though they are not little girls anymore, I still keep the tie. ties and if they would have matched what I'm wearing today I would have actually worn them because for me these ties represent two not so little girls and how much they love their daddy.
Can you say amen? And I'm sure if we went around the sanctuary all of you would probably have some gift that is special to you. Maybe not so much in monetary value but in sentimental value because it was given to you by someone you love. and someone who cherishes you. So don't you dare try to take my tithes.
But you know, the Bible tells us that there is a gift that God desires to give each one of us. And it is the greatest gift in the world. Now, I'm not talking about the cross.
That is the greatest gift. But something beyond the cross, God wants to give us a gift that is meant to revitalize our Christian experience. A gift that is meant to take us from being... and cold to being hot again. A gift that is meant to help us know what it means to have a genuine, authentic, passionate relationship with Jesus.
And God calls it the gift of the Holy Spirit. I want to invite you to take your Bibles with me and turn to our Scripture reading John chapter 7 beginning in verse 37. Now it's on the script. for you, I invite you to also look it up in your own Bibles. John chapter 7 and verse 37. I want you to picture as I read this.
John 7 verse 37. The Bible says, And on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. For he who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his or her heart will flow rivers of what? Living water.
And this he spoke concerning the Holy Spirit. Jesus is in Jerusalem in this chapter. They are celebrating one of the greatest feasts of the Jewish year, and that is the Feast of Tabernacles. And on the last day of this feast, when the most people from throughout Israel would be there at Jerusalem, Jesus steps out from the crowd right next to the temple, and he cries out with this invitation. And he says, if anyone thirsts for something better, let him come to me.
If there's anyone that wants something more than what they got in their spiritual life, if they want to be transformed from the inside, he says let them come to me and I will place in their hearts rivers of living water that will flow out of their heart and into the people that are around them. Can somebody say amen? And we know that what Jesus is talking about here the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is saying that if you will invite my Holy Spirit into your life it will be like rivers of living water that transform you, that enable you to have a born-again experience that will enable you to be passionate in your relationship with Jesus. Now I don't like ethereal terms. I like concrete terms that I can picture.
So let me ask you a question. When Jesus describes the work of the Holy Spirit with this metaphor, you know, rivers of living water flowing out of the heart, what picture comes to your mind? What do you picture in your mind when you hear that term, rivers of living water flowing out of the heart? Just somebody yell out loud, what comes to your mind? Okay, maybe a mountain or a waterfall.
Oh, a fountain, a fountain of water, okay? Or maybe a waterfall that's cascading down a mountain filled with cool, crisp, fresh water. water. So let me ask you a question.
Have you ever had a time in your life when you were extremely thirsty? Now I'm talking about being physically thirsty. That maybe you were out hiking all day, you ran out of water, and so most of the afternoon you had nothing. to drink.
It's 80 or 90 degrees out. You come to the end of the day and you are literally dying of thirst. You can feel the dehydration in your body.
And at the end of the day, someone finally hands you a nice cold glass of water. glass of water or a bottle of water and you drink it, in that situation, can you literally feel the refreshing going through your body, yes or no? Yeah. I remember when I was a teenager growing up in York, Pennsylvania, Sundays were the day that we would go to all the basketball courts.
When Sundays came and it was sun came out in the afternoon, me and my guy friends, we would try to find a court somewhere and we would literally pay basketball all. all day long. And of course when you're teenagers sometimes you forget to bring water along.
So you can imagine playing basketball in the hot sun all day. You just finished playing five or six games in a row and you are dying of thirst. You are ready for water and when you drink it you feel the refreshing that goes through your body.
This is how Jesus uses a metaphor to describe how he wants to transform our spiritual lives. lives and our relationship with Him through this thing called the baptism or the indwelling of the Holy Spirit into our lives. See, when it talks about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, it's speaking of a renewed spiritual life.
Having a clearer connection with Jesus than I've ever had before. A genuine encounter with Christ where your spiritual life becomes real. It's not about just coming to church and...
going through the motions where I sing my songs, I give a little money here, you know, I play along. with the prayer, and I do the same thing over and over again, but it actually starts to make a difference in my life. I go from being lukewarm to being hot again, and Jesus begins to do something in me. me that I cannot do for myself. I want to share with you what one of my favorite Christian writers wrote, the great Christian writer of the 19th century, her name was Ellen White.
And I want to begin by asking a question and then sharing. a quote. This thing about being filled with the Holy Spirit.
How important is it? Is this just something extra for the person who wants to be a super Christian and it's optional? Or is it an absolute necessity for every disciple of Jesus Christ? What do you think? Oh, you didn't really encourage me a whole lot there.
Is it an absolute necessity or is it optional? Absolute necessity. Notice what the great Christian writer writer says in a Christian magazine called The Review and Herald from 1896. She writes, the Lord Jesus acts through the Holy Spirit, for it is his representative. Through it, he infuses life into the soul, that spiritual life, quickening its energies for good, cleansing from moral defilement, and giving it a fitness for his kingdom.
And notice the next phrase, Jesus has large... blessings to bestow. What kind of blessings? Large blessings to bestow. If we will acknowledge the power of his Spirit and submit to be molded by it, we shall stand complete in him.
See, what she is writing is just reiterating what Jesus says in Scripture that talks about how when I ask God on a daily basis to give me, to fill me with his Holy Spirit, it produces in time an entire revitalization of my life. life. It changes the desires of my heart, the things that I desire, the things that I have tendencies for. He begins to do this supernatural, unexplainable phenomena that is called conversion. And when you think about it, when you see a heart that has been converted, that is the greatest manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes we focus on certain gifts. Certain gifts are not the greatest manifestation of the Holy Spirit because not everybody has the same gift. The greatest manifestation of the Holy Spirit is when you see a life that has changed directions. When you see a life that has done a 180. Because that doesn't happen from human logic. That doesn't happen from me arguing with someone about what is right or what is truth.
That is the Holy Spirit doing what you and I cannot do, doing the unexpected. where a human heart can literally be changed, and that is something only God can do. Can you say amen?
That's what the Holy Spirit wants to do in my life. See, I can try as hard as I can to want to be good. I might say I'm going to pull up enough effort in my life to follow Jesus, but the truth is because of the heart that I'm born with, I don't have enough effort to follow Jesus. It's going to take a power from outside me to do a change in my heart that I can't do for myself.
But the difference is, I have to ask for it. I have to ask him on a daily basis, Lord, I give you permission to fill me with your Holy Spirit today. In fact, she goes on to make this interesting statement that Jesus has large... blessings to bestow.
I want us to ponder something. If I'm not asking for the Holy Spirit on a daily basis, What blessings am I missing in my life? Because I'm not asking for the Holy Spirit. What blessings am I missing in my marriage?
Because I'm not asking for the Holy Spirit. What blessing am I missing in my marriage? missing in my relationship with my kids or others because I'm not asking for the Holy Spirit? Or what blessings am I missing in my church because we're not praying and asking for God's Holy Spirit?
Jesus has large blessings to bestow, but he's waiting for us to ask, can you say amen? See, without the Holy Spirit, my spiritual life remains the same. Dull, lifeless, going through the motions, lukewarm.
and half-hearted. Does the picture on the screen describe how you feel about your spiritual life? Does the picture on the screen speak to your heart and say, you know, that is sometimes how I feel about church and my spiritual life.
It's just, it's not going anywhere. It's the same thing. I mean, I'm sitting here with my body.
but my mind is somewhere else. Maybe I'm yawning because I'm not paying attention, or maybe I just want to get on my phone and text, and my mind's not in Jesus. My mind is somewhere else. Do we want that to continue? Do I keep wanting to go through the motions or do I want to experience something real that only Jesus can give me if I will choose to ask for it?
Because the truth is, and you're going to think it's crazy for a preacher to say this, you can listen to a thousand sermons and your heart might not be changed. You can go to church all your life. And your heart may not be changed. I mean, going to church is a good thing. I mean, certainly a better percentage if you're in church.
But the only thing that's going to change the human heart is when I surrender myself on a daily basis and say, Lord, I'm giving you permission to send me your Holy Spirit today. God doesn't say, listen, you've got to overcome the problems in your life before you ask for the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit.
You've got to overcome your addictions before you ask for the Holy Spirit. You've got to overcome your tendencies towards wrong before you ask for the Holy Spirit. You've got to overcome all your sins before you ask for the Holy Spirit.
God doesn't say that. Jesus says, come to Him as we are and we start by saying Lord I'm asking you to give me the Holy Spirit because I know that is the only entity that's gonna be able to change my human heart we have to start with step number one amen because if I wait until I think I have it all together I will never ask because if I actually reach a point where I think I have it all together that's called pride and when I have pride then I will feel I have no need to ask for the Holy Spirit Spirit or to be submitted to him. So Jesus says, come as you are and then each morning give God permission to give you his Holy Spirit.
If that makes sense, can you say hallelujah? In another article that was written in the Review and Herald, this statement was made. Never will the human heart know happiness until it is submitted to be molded by the Spirit of God. The Spirit conforms the renewed soul to the model which is Jesus Christ.
Through its influence, enmity against God is changed into faith and love, pride into humility. Now that sentence got my attention. What does it say? happiness until it is submitted to be molded by the Holy Spirit. When you look back on your life and your journey with Jesus, whether you've just begun that journey or maybe you've been a mature follower of Jesus for many years, when you look back on that journey Had you ever found yourself trying to find happiness in different places?
Maybe happiness through a particular relationship. Maybe happiness through a particular substance you put into your body. Maybe happiness through some sort of possessions that you thought was important to you at the time.
Or maybe happiness through trying to build a relationship with someone. that bigger bank account or have people's honor and respect. We look for happiness in this world in so many different places, but we are told from Scripture and even from this this beautiful article, the human heart will never know true happiness until it is submitted to the Holy Spirit.
So I could flip the question. What happiness am I missing in my life? Because I'm not asking for the Holy Spirit.
What happiness am I missing in my marriage? Because I'm not asking for the Holy Spirit. What happiness am I missing in the relationship with my kids? Because I'm not asking for the Holy Spirit daily.
What happiness am I missing in my church? Because we're not asking and praying for the Holy Spirit. These are questions to ponder. Jesus says, I want to...
give you rivers of living water that will flow into your life and out of your heart to others. Because without that Holy Spirit, I can never truly experience a joyful Christian life. I don't want you to answer this question out loud, but have you ever met someone who's a Christian but they really don't seem to be all that joyful? You know, they seem to live as if somebody put something sour in their mouth 24 hours a day.
Someone who says, they're a Christian but there's no happiness or joy. Maybe their life is consumed with criticizing others like these independent ministries do. Let's criticize the pastor, let's criticize the General Conference, let's criticize this person at church, and they're all bent on negativity and they wonder why they don't have any joy in their Christian experience.
Until I submit and surrender to the Holy Spirit, I can't experience that true kind of happiness. Can you say amen? And the thing is, Jesus wants to give me that kind of happiness. He doesn't want me to go through the motions. He doesn't want me to experience this thing where I'm sitting in the pew, but there's just nothing going on.
I spend my life listening to other people give testimonies, listening to other people talk about their passionate relationship with Jesus, listening to other people talk about being filled with the Holy Spirit. Do I want to... to spend my Christian life listening to other people talk about it, but never experiencing it myself. That's where Jesus pleads with us to come and to ask for rivers of living water.
There's another statement I read that got my attention. I was almost going to skip this one because it's pretty, it's a pretty direct statement, but I decided not to skip it. In the Seventh-day Adventist Bible commentary, now this is not from the Bible itself, it's just from from a commentary, but it got my attention, so I decided to put it on a slide. There it said, half-hearted Christians are worse than infidels, for their deceptive words and non-committal position lead many astray.
The infidel shows his true colors. The lukewarm Christian deceives both parties. He is neither a good worldling nor a good Christian, and it's the last sentence that really got my attention. I want to explain this.
this, okay? Satan uses him to do a work no one else can do. Okay, did you grasp that, okay? Half-hearted Christians lead more people astray than the person out there who claims to be atheist and has no relationship with God, wants nothing to do with God. You see, well, how can that be?
Think about it. The person who is a self-proclaimed not-believer in God living his life in rebellion against him, are they being two-faced about it? They're not. They're living according to what their values are. They make known what they think.
They make known their values. They live in accordance with their values. There's no two-faces about it. But the half-hearted Christian who says they're a follower of Jesus, but they're straddling the fence, and they're at church on Sabbath one day, worshiping in a holy setting, but the other six days of the week, you watch, and they're hardly committed to Jesus. Jesus in their works and the things they do, the choices they make, the words they use, that's what leads people astray.
Because then people, look, how many times have you ever heard someone say, well, if that's what a Christian is, I don't want anything to do with it. If that's what happens to people who go to church, well, then I'm just as good as them. I don't need church. And if this is what a Savior does to them, I don't need that Savior. Are you following what I'm saying?
I mean, that's a hard sentence. isn't it? And so what the Holy Spirit is meant to do is when I ask, maybe I am a half-hearted Christian. And the truth is, there are times in all of our lives where we can be pretty half-hearted, can't we?
We go through those valleys. But see, what the Holy Spirit is for is to help me to make that transition from being half-hearted for Jesus to being fully on board with Jesus. Can you say amen? But I can't do that of my own power.
I need this gift of the Holy Spirit, this comforter that Jesus said he wants to give to every believer who will come to him. Regardless of male, female, or age, God wants to give us his Holy Spirit. So with that understanding, I want to share a book with you.
I want to share a book with you. I meant to bring a box of these books and give them to you today, and of course I forgot. How many have ever heard of the book Steps to Personal Revival? Can I see your hands?
Okay, some of you have. That book was life-changing for me. A few years ago, I was at a difficult place spiritually. I was upset with God. He wasn't answering my prayers the way I thought He should.
I felt like I was going through the motions. And I was a pastor. Oh yeah, I still preached my sermons. I still did my work at the conference office. I still did my meetings.
But I could tell that I was going through the motions. Because deep down, when you're not connected to Jesus, deep down, you kind of know when you're going through the motions. And someone handed me this book, Steps to Personal Revival. It sat in my briefcase for about a year. And I decided to read it.
And when I read it, it helped me to get back on that path of being passionate for Jesus again. Because what that book did, it talked about, what is this thing called the baptism of the Holy Spirit? I mean, doctrinally, you know, it's a theological doctrine. We may know it doctrinally in our head.
Yeah, I know what the Holy Spirit is. But the book helped me to understand practically what it means to be baptized by the Holy Spirit, to experience that, and actually allow Him into my life. It changed things for me. It's actually a series of three books.
And I would like to offer that to you. That if maybe you're thinking, you know what, I'd like to use that book in my devotional life. I want to have that experience too. I am putting my email address on the screen. Because I meant to bring a box today.
I'm going to put my email address on the screen. If you would like to have a copy of that book, I will send it to you from the conference office. If you will take a picture of that and you will email me and say, Pastor Dave, I was there for the Sabbath morning sermon. I would like to have a copy of that book.
I will send that book to any... anybody who says, I would like to have it. Because I want you to be able to have an experience such as that as well.
Can you say amen? Now, how do I receive the Holy Spirit? We've established how important it is.
How? Do I repeat a prayer? Am I supposed to exhibit some gift?
Am I supposed to come forward for an altar call? How do I receive the Holy Spirit? Well, I figure, why don't we just let Jesus answer? answer that question. What do you think?
I mean, it's his Holy Spirit, so he ought to know. So Jesus answers it with a simple story that some of you are familiar with. In Luke 11, verse 5, Jesus tells this parable. The Bible says, and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his what?
Persistence, he will give him as many as he needs. Now pause here for a second. Jesus tells this story in a Middle Eastern context.
There is a friend who is in need. Apparently, someone comes to him on a journey in the middle of the night he wasn't expecting. A friend of his was journeying, needed a place to stay, decided to stop at his friend's house with no prior notice. Obviously they weren't texting back then. And so when he came to the house, the man has nothing to set before him.
And you must understand in the Middle Eastern context, hospitality is a big deal. Still today. To have someone come to your house as a guest and not be able to put food in front of them, that was considered to be a shameful thing.
So this person was shamed. Why? Because they realized, now catch the phrase, they realized... I have nothing to give.
I have nothing to set before him. And so he goes across the street to his neighbor, and of course the neighbor says what probably your neighbor would say, I mean, if I knocked on my neighbor's door at 12 o'clock midnight, or actually if you knocked on my door at 12 o'clock midnight, I might tell you, hey, I'm not taking calls at midnight. I'm in the nice warm...
bed. My wife and I are asleep. My kids are in bed. You know, the blanket's warm. I don't want to get up and walk on those cold hardwood floors.
Just look, if you're not dying, just come to me tomorrow morning and we'll deal with it. And most of us would think, well, that's fairly logical. But this man persists because he knows he has nothing to give of himself.
And then Jesus talks about this parable by saying, I say to you, ask, and it will be given. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened unto you. I used to think this parable was just about being persistent in prayer generally.
And then I realized it's much more specific. Jesus isn't just talking about general prayer. He's talking about asking for the Holy Spirit. especially when you see the last sentence.
And you notice how it steps up in urgency? He says, ask and it will be given. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you.
The urgency steps up with each one. And he says, everyone who asks does what? Receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks, it will be opened.
If a son asked bread from any father among you, would he give him a stone? If he asked for an egg, would he give him a scorpion? Him.
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, and this phrase is the kicker, how much more will your Heavenly Father give what? Not just answers to prayer, how much will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? And when you read that in the original language, it's in the continuous present tense, which means it's not asking one time, it is a continual and a daily asking. now someone may say well didn't I receive the Holy Spirit when I accepted Jesus and then I was baptized yes you received the initial feeling of the Holy Spirit the Bible calls that a deposit but the filling of the Holy Spirit is not a one-time experience did you catch what I just said it's not a one-time experience you have to be refilled on a daily basis think about about it.
When you were born, first day you were born, of course you probably don't remember that day, but when you were born and you ate your first meal, is that one meal supposed to sustain you for the rest of your life? What do you have to keep doing? You have to keep eating. In the same way, I cannot expect the spiritual experience I had, maybe at the time that I was baptized and converted, I can't expect some experience I had yesterday or last week or 20 years ago to care me for the rest of my life I need to have an experience with Jesus daily I need to be refilled every day it would be like Let's say you had $5,000. Now some of you might be saying, I wish I had $5,000.
But let's say you had $5,000. And someone wanted to borrow that money from you. So you allowed them to borrow it. And they gave you a down payment.
They gave you the first payment. They're going to pay you back in monthly installments. They gave you the first payment.
But then you never went back. and ask for the rest of the money. You were satisfied with the deposit.
We would say, well, that person's crazy. Why didn't they go get the rest of the money? Jesus was telling us the same thing.
Ask, seek, knock on a daily basis. Because when I ask Jesus to fill my heart with his Holy Spirit every day, I'm not asking because he's going to forget. I'm not asking because he doesn't want to give it to me.
It's not like the neighbor in the store who really didn't want to give it. I am asking because it's for my benefit. What I'm really saying is Jesus...
Jesus, I'm giving you permission to stay in my heart. I'm giving you permission to stay with me today. That's what we're really doing. But we're told we need to ask for it.
I mean, when it describes Jesus' spiritual life, in the magazine Signs of the Times from the 1800s, it describes Jesus' devotional life where it says, morning by morning he communicated with his Father in heaven, receiving from him what? daily a fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit. Now, if Jesus, who was the sinless, spotless Son of God, needed a fresh daily baptism of the Holy Spirit, how much more... to you and I, who are born with a heart that already has tendencies to go the wrong direction.
If Jesus needed it, you and I need it, amen? And when it talks about Jesus needing it, you don't see him exhibiting just one particular gift. When it talks about Jesus receiving a fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit, that is surrendering himself to God's plan every day for that day, allowing the fruit of the Spirit to work in his life.
life to be able to reach other people, am I willing to say, Lord Jesus, I ask you to give me your Holy Spirit today. But what happens in my life when I do that? There's five things I have the blessings to experience. Number one, your life becomes more like Christ and you begin to develop the fruit of the Spirit over time.
That's what happens when the Holy Spirit enters your life. Number two, your... prayer life and your Bible study become more meaningful.
See, without the Holy Spirit, it might be hard for me to pay attention when I read the Bible. Maybe it seems boring to me, doesn't make any sense. But when I'm filled with the Holy Spirit, when God gives me that gift, my prayer, my Bible study, starts to become more meaningful. It starts to become more interesting. The third thing that happens, I experience strength to resist temptations that come my way instead of being on my own.
Number four, I have a genuine encounter with Jesus, the real thing. And number five, I receive power to be a witness for him. Maybe not a witness that preaches from up front.
Well, some people may, but not everybody has that gift. But a power to be a witness to peace. people in your daily personal life that God brings into contact with you. That is what the Holy Spirit desires to do in the life of the disciple of Jesus who is simply willing to say each morning, Lord, I open my heart. I ask you to give me your Holy Spirit.
And don't let the enemy talk you out of it. You can't ask for the Holy Spirit. Look what you did yesterday. You can't ask for the Holy Spirit. Look what you did yesterday.
you desired last week. You can't ask for the Holy Spirit because you have all these tendencies towards wrong. You better figure that out first.
No, no, no. Don't listen to the enemy. Ask for the Holy Spirit just as you are, whatever your issues may be. Because my Bible says that there is no issue that Jesus cannot handle.
My Bible says, is anything too hard for the Lord? Is the hand of the Lord too short to save? And the answer is no, because with my Jesus, my Savior, I can come to him with anything, and he will fill me with his Holy Spirit and begin that work of transformation in my life and in your life. Can somebody say amen? I want to end by this last passage.
Now, we're not going to read the passage because we don't have time for it. But you know the parable of the ten versions. Ten people, we could say church members, because they all believed in the coming of the bridegroom.
All ten believed in the coming of the bridegroom. All ten were waiting for him. But what was the difference between the five?
The difference was very simple. Only five refilled their lamps. The others let their lamps go empty. When I ask for God's Spirit every day, I say, My lamp never goes empty, because as long as I ask, Jesus already said, ask and it shall be given.
Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened unto you. That's what I love about Jesus. I never have to walk the Christian life alone.
And there is no, there is no sin or desire or tendency or addiction that I may struggle with where Jesus is going to cast me away and say, you are on your own. Because Jesus says, I shall never. leave you and I will never forsake you. So here's what I want to do as we close.
I want to go ahead and invite the praise team if they want to go ahead and come up because I'm going to make the appeal now and I'm going to do an altar call. I want you to listen carefully because I'm going to make the appeal before they sing. And then while they sing, I'll step down here before the altar. That'll be your opportunity to come forward. But here is the appeal.
You guys can go ahead and get in place a while. If in your heart you would like to say, Lord... I want you to fill me with your Holy Spirit.
Lord, I want spiritual revival in my life. If you simply want to give God permission to do that in your life, then I'm going to invite you to come forward. when we start singing the closing song.
On the first verse, you're going to see me step down here. I'm not going to talk while they're singing. I'm just going to step down before the altar. And if you in your heart want to say, yes, Lord, I would like to experience that.
I know my life's not all... all together necessarily, but I want to experience the Holy Spirit. I want spiritual revival in my life. I don't care if you're a visitor or you've been part of this church for 50 years.
You're simply saying, Lord, I want spiritual revival in my heart, and I am giving you permission to fill my heart with your Holy Spirit. If that's your desire, on that first verse, when you see me step down, that'll be your cue to come forward. And we'll have a special prayer at the end. So let's stand now as we sing our closing song, which we want to put on the screen.
I believe it's Softly and Tenderly, Jesus is Calling. I think it's hymn number 287, Softly and Tenderly, Jesus is Calling. Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, calling for you and for me.
Have a heart for God, He's waiting and watching, watching for you and for me. Come home, come home. He who will be called, heard as he tenderly Jesus is calling, call it a sin and come home. Why should we carry when Jesus is pleading, pleading for you and for me? Why should we linger and heed not His mercies?
Mercies for you and for me. Come home, come home, ye who are weary, come home. Oh, let's pretend that Jesus is calling, calling. Think of the wonderful love He has promised, promised for you and for me. Glorious in the everlasting Empire.
I am I, and for me, come all, come all, be all, and be all, courtesy, tender, Jesus is calling, call to us in a quiet... Amen, my friends. When you say, Lord, I ask you to fill me, we know it's a prayer that God is going to answer. As we have our closing prayer, I'd like to ask those who were baptized today are going to be baptized tonight. night, if you would just come up front from I want to have a special prayer for you as we close our service.
So if you are being baptized today or tonight or one of the ones for tomorrow or not tomorrow for next week as well, if you just join us up here, I want to have a special prayer. to close our service together. And as they are coming forward, if there's somebody else here today and you're saying in your heart, I sense that God wants me to make that decision to be baptized too one day soon.
I'd like to invite you to raise your hand wherever you are. I'm not saying you're going to be baptized. I'm not saying you're going to be baptized today. God bless you, Kiara, Katrina. You're not going to be baptized today.
You're simply saying I'm making the decision today. that I want to start preparing to be baptized one day soon. Wherever you may be, I would just invite you to raise your hand just now as we have our closing prayer because I want to include you.
I want to include you in that closing prayer. And if you're listening on the live stream, I don't care if you're in Africa, Australia, or you're just down the street, you're sense God saying, I want to be baptized one day soon. I hope you'll get on that phone and you'll call Pastor Hope at the White Marsh Seventh-day Adventist Church and you'll tell Pastor Hope, I want to prepare for that baptism one day soon. as well.
So if you've raised your hand saying, I want to be baptized, I would invite you, if you just make your way and just stand with this group. I'm not going to make you say anything. Just stand with this group here. Join them.
I want to include you in that prayer because it's significant for your spiritual life as well. I don't care if you're a man or a woman. I don't care if you're a child.
You're saying, I want to be baptized. I want to invite you to join this group. I may not know when exactly you'll be baptized, but you're saying, I want to start preparing to be baptized. If you'll join us. right up here, we're going to have a special prayer for you.
And then when you leave and we have deacons or pathfinders at the door, if you'll take that card and you'll mark on there whatever God led you to mark about being baptized or something else, and you'll turn that in, we'll be sure to follow up with you so that you can have that special moment in your own spiritual journey. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for answering our prayer to being in this service today. Thank you, Lord, for giving us even just the beginning of an understanding about your Holy Spirit. We give you permission to fill us, Lord.
We need that power from outside of ourselves. We want to be revitalized, Lord. And you know our friends have come forward giving you that permission. And so, Lord, thank you that you're already answering that prayer.
And for those that have chosen to be baptized, Lord, that you will continue to fill them with an evil spirit. even greater measure, that you will transform them into mature disciples for you. You'll use them to make a difference in the life of somebody else.
Thank you that we can come to you just as we are. And so we praise you on this Sabbath day, and we ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen and amen.
Have a wonderful Sabbath. If you chose to be baptized, please mark it on your card so that you can be baptized. so that we can follow up with you.
You were in the prayer, God bless you. yeah i before we leave i just want to remind us that we have a lunch in the in the in the gym please don't leave we have a fellowship lunch at the gym we want to invite everybody to come so we can fellowship together. Also by 2 o'clock today we have produce giveaway.
Please remember to take something so that you can share with the neighbor or you can use for your family. Thank you so much. Fellowship launch immediately at the gym.
Thank you so much.