Music. you Come to Jesus be all glory, honor, and praise Majesty, keep the authority. Go from this throne unto its own. Peace and good grace shall exalt, lift up on high the name of Jesus. Magnified, glorified, Christ Jesus the King. Good morning. or if you need to know somebody that you can talk to about salvation, just put the name and address and wait to get in touch with them. And in church time, Sunday school is Sunday morning at 10 o'clock. Worship service at 11 o'clock. Evening service at 6 o'clock. Then we have Bible study on 7 o'clock, going through the, it's in the fellowship aisle, going through the, the... Chronological. ...of Jesus ministry for gospel. And then we got activity meeting right after this morning's service for the upcoming month, August. Oh, we got a bunch of birthdays. JD Morgan, July the 22nd. Dan Worthy, July the 23rd. Carlisle Woods, July the 26th. I might not say that right. Kate Patterson, the 28th. Easton Liu, the 28th. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, God bless you. Happy birthday to you and many more. We've got one anniversary. And we got one, in remembrance of one family, I can't say it. The Stephens. And July the 27th, it's coming up Friday, there'll be the cooking for the homeless. If anyone would like to help or do anything, just contact Mr. Baker. I just want to thank the church for all of the school supplies that y'all provided for the children to pack backpacks for the children less fortunate. Yesterday we had our children on mission and nine children showed up. And we had, y'all just always are so amazing and so faithful. for our missions, to help with missions. Those children packed 12 backpacks. Then their surprise was that we had enough left over. They all brought their own personal backpacks. They didn't know why. They kept saying, why is my backpack sitting on the table and I'm packing a pack for somebody else? After it was all over and we had so much left over, They went to the table, got their backpacks. We put school supplies in their backpacks as a surprise. And then we had three empty backpacks left over and all the overflow went in those three backpacks. So we actually packed 24 backpacks yesterday. Y'all. And the kids actually had so much fun doing it themselves, hands on. Olivia prepared a program about a mustard seed. So they tried to make little mustard seeds and glue it on. It was the whole day. It was the sweetest day. So thank y'all for making it happen. The children you made, they're very happy. And I know the ones that are going to receive these backpacks are going to be so blessed because of your faithfulness. So thank you, y'all. You know what it is? Brother Bob left County Under the weather today, so that's why I'm standing up here talking. Just pray for him, Jim. You've got it. There shall be showers of blessings, this is the promise of love. There shall be seasons refreshing, sent from the Savior above. Showers of blessings, showers of blessings we need. Thirsting for trueness are falling, but for the showers we plead. There shall be showers of blessings, precious reminding again. Over the hills and the valleys, sound of abundance of rain. Showers of blessings, showers of blessings we need. Mercy drops round us are falling, but for the showers we plead. This time, we'll take a moment of well-shed, and then we'll leave those things for the rest of the day. And then we'll take a moment of well-shed, and then we'll leave those things for the rest of the day. And then we'll take a moment of well-shed, and then we'll leave those things for the rest of the day. And then we'll take a moment of well-shed, and then we'll leave those things for the rest of the day. And then we'll take a moment of well-shed, and then we'll leave those things for the rest of the day. And then we'll take a moment of well-shed, and then we'll leave those things for the rest of the day. And then we'll take a moment of well-shed, and then we'll leave those things for the rest of the day. And then we'll take a moment of well-shed, and then we'll leave those things for the rest of the day. And then we'll take a moment Jesus is near Just when I falter Just when I fear Ready to help me Ready to cheer Just when I need Him most Just when I need Him most, just when I need Him most, Jesus is near to comfort and cheer, just when I need Him most. Just when I need Him, Jesus is true. Never forsaking, all the way through. Pitching for burdens, pleasures anew. Just when I need Him most. Just when I need Him most. Just when I need Him most. Jesus is near to comfort and cheer. Just when I need Him most. Just as I need Him, Jesus is strong, bearing my burdens all the day long. For all my sorrow, I'm giving a song, just when I need Him most. Just when I need Him most, just when I need Him most, Jesus is near to comfort and cheer, just when I need Him most. Just when I need Him, He is my all. Let supreme weather pardon my fall, tenderly watching, lest I should fall. Just when I need Him most. ♪ Just when I need Him most ♪ Just when I need Him most ♪ Jesus is near to comfort and cheer ♪ Just when I need Him most ♪ Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong, they are weak, but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so. Jesus loves me, He who died, Heaven's gates to open wide. He will wash away my sin, Let His little child come in. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so. Jesus loves me, loves me still, though I'm weary, weak, and ill. From His shining throne on high, He comes to watch me where I lie. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so. Jesus loves me, He will stay Close beside me all the way If I love Him when I die He will take me low or high Yes, Jesus loves me Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so. Through my disappointments, strife, and discontentment, I cast my every care on the Lord. No matter what obsession, pain, or indignation, I'm standing on a solid rock. I'm standing on the Rock of Ages, saved from all the storms that rage. It's risen up from Satan's rages, I'm standing on this solid rock. Even though He's gone now, I don't feel alone now, with comfort in the Spirit of the Lord. Now with His Word to guide me, no temptations I bring, I'm standing on this solid rock. But I'm standing on the rock of ages safe From all the storms that rage in this region And from Satan's wages I'm standing on this solid rock day by day Rock of Spain. I'm standing on the rock of ancient Spain. From all the stones that break these trees. I'm standing on the solid rock. I'm standing on the Rock of Ages, I'm on the stones that rage, I'm standing on the solid rock. The Lord say amen. It's good to see each and every one of you here this morning. I hope and pray that you have a blessing this morning as the Lord speaks to you through the Holy Spirit that he'll bless you. I was going to do something weird this morning. I got some wood from the job that came from a craver. I was going to make a Bible window that was the size of the ark, that was in the ark according to the scriptures of God, but to look through while I was preaching, But it would have been very difficult because a cubic is from the fingertip to the elbow. And I would have been trying to preach through this window right here. So it wouldn't have went too good. But I went as far as brought the wood home. And I thought about it. And I was going to put a little frame the same size that was in the ark. I'm going to be preaching in Genesis chapter 6, verses 14, 15, and 16 this morning. If you've got an outline in a bulletin, I've got scripture that'll be right down there, down at the bottom, and it'll go over into the next back that I put on there. If you don't have a Bible, you'll have scripture there or up on the screen here in just a few minutes. But today, I start a series called Bible Window Panes. And this morning, that deals with staying alert. to the word and the will and the ways of God. There are several through the Bible that deals with the word window, and it's according to which scripture, whether you've got King James Version, the American Standard, or if you have NIV, of the Hebrew. But I'm going to put some of the words from Hebrew up in a minute that deal with the king james version but if your translation is different it'll be different with the hebrew and that's how it works a lot of times because and i'll explain that in just a few minutes but if you do have your bibles turn over to genesis chapter 6 verses 14 15 and 16 bible window pane this morning as we look and realize that this morning i put a window up and then stuck in it looking the window of the ark. And this series is going to deal with windows that are in the Bible. Amen. All from the Bible. It'll be Joshua, Malachi, all the different places. There's about 15 or maybe 16 different references of scripture. You heard the phrase, open the windows of heaven. Amen. You've heard that before. And so in a lot of locations that each and every one of these has something that we can learn through. And here, even though I'm going to use the ark, I'm not going to get real in depth about all the things of the ark, but I'm going to deal with the storm. Because Noah was in a storm, and even though that he was in it, God didn't remove the storm. But he helped him get through the storm. And every one of us are going to deal with storms in our lives each and every day. I don't care how long that you go through life, but there's going to be a storm that you're going to deal with. How long it lasts? Maybe, hopefully not long, sometimes three months. Sometimes months on end to years that this storm can continue. to rage in your life. I know, I hope not for you, and I hope not for myself, but I tell you there's nothing worse. But the window of the Bible is going to put us in the right perspective because there's certain things that we're going to be doing, and I'll get to it in a minute, that we'll be looking, going outside or going inside looking out. Going back in and looking out from in, and then a couple other things that we'll be doing, putting ourselves in the perspective of Noah as this storm is raging around the ark. And so if you're able to stand this morning before the honor and glory of Jesus Christ, the Hebrew word, or the regular Hebrew word, is kaon. Kaon for Hebrew in the Bible, amen. Here's another way that it's spelled. That means window. a way that you can spell it. But I thank God I'll explain that in just a few minutes. If you're able to stand with us this morning, would you stand as we honor the reading of the Word of God? Genesis chapter 6, verse 14. The Bible says, Make thee an ark of gopher wood. Rune shall thou make in the ark, and shall pitch it within, and without root pitch. He goes on and he says in verse 15, and this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of. The length of the ark shall be 300 cubits. You'll find in your bulletin what the measurements are. The breadth of it, 50 cubits, and the height of it, 30 cubits. And then lastly, verse 16, here it is. The word of window shalt thou make to the ark. and in a cubit shall thou finish it above. And the door of the ark thou shalt set in the side thereof, with the Lord, second and third stories shalt thou make it. You may be seated. Let's pray this one. Father, we thank you for the reading of the word of God. And Lord, it's our heart's desire this morning, Father, that you'll get us out of the way. And Lord, that this word of God, your blessings will come upon it, Father, as you use it this morning to deal with the storms that are going on in our life that are raging out of control. or Lord, that are just around the corner of coming into our life, maybe our families or our loved ones or something that's on our job that's happening, Father. And so I pray, God, that as we look at the window of the ark and realize, Lord, that how that it can help us to deal with our storms as there was a storm many thousands of years ago, Father, Lord, back in the very beginning when this world was covered with water. And I pray this morning, God, that you'll help us, Lord, to totally just depend on you this morning, get ourself out of the way. Lord, whether we have notes, give us the remembrance of the Holy Spirit to only say that that you'd have us to say, and skip over whatever is in front of us if you don't want it said this morning. And Lord, I pray God your will will be done this morning. And most importantly, Father, there's someone here that's cold and indifferent. Lord, that they got out of their relationship. They lost their salvation, but maybe, Lord, they haven't been following the will of God lately. Maybe they haven't been focusing on you lately, Father. I pray God this morning that this will put their focus back on you and not the storm that's raging around them, Father, because you're the one that can save every one of us. You're the one that can rescue us through whatever trials and testing and all that we're going through today, Father. Help us this morning, speak to our hearts, Lord. And I pray, God, Lord, this morning that, Lord, as we go our separate ways, I ask, God, that the most important thing, that a gift would be received this morning, that someone that don't know Jesus Christ, Lord, I pray that they'll step out and take you at your word this morning and ask Jesus to be the keeper of their soul. and give glory and honor to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, that we ask this morning. Amen. Thank God that it's good to be in the house of the Lord. I thank God I have some other scripture that I've put up because it continues on. And this is a different window of Hebrew. The first one in different translation of the Hebrew than this one that I'm fixing today. I do that for a point and I'm going to show that in just a minute because it's significant. Now thank God, you look in here and you see Aruba. According to the King James is the Hebrew word. for Genesis chapter 6. Now thank God it has five occurrences and this is one of the first that it uses this and in this translation that it deals with not only a type of a window but it deals with in some of the other translations as if it was a light or as if it was something that would bring in a light into the area that it would be in. Another translation would be chimney. And I thank God in all of your American standards, your NIVs, normally if you'll look at those, it'll say the word light for Hebrew. And that is Aruba. And I thank God the next one that we're fixing to read in Genesis chapter 8, And verse 6 is another type of window where he began to open this up at the end of the 40 days that Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made. And it is a challenge. And that's the normal word for window in the Hebrew that you see. And there's about 17 different uses for that throughout the Bible. Now, that second word, the first word, aruba, let me back it up real quick. Just a little bit of letting you know. It also could be like a lattice. It could also be a type of a window that's used. It could be used as a flood gate. It could be used as lattices in the window of a room. But then here is that second word, and it came to pass at the end of the 40 days that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. That's the second type of window in the Hebrew. It's the chalim, not the aruba, but it's the chalim. And I thank God as we know this difference is, the significance of it is that was a different type of window. Now I know they said there's only one window and there was only one door. And all I can say is take the Word of God and the Hebrew, but here it's used as a different type of window in Genesis chapter 8. Just a few chapters right down, it's used differently, amen, here. I thank God as we look at that and begin to learn from it, even further on as it goes over into Genesis chapter 26. You don't have that in front of you, but I thank God. Here the word chayim is the one that's the typical, if you write Hebrew, this will be the one that it would come out, amen. It would be window as a general, amen. And so I thank God here this morning as we look at it, we realize that first of all, in our own strength, we like the and abilities to meet life's challenges, but God can provide everything that we need. I don't care what, how big the storm is or what kind of storm it is, amen. And I thank God if we look and we realize this morning that many people that are going through a lot of storms, maybe it's cancer, maybe it's a medical problem, you lost your job, amen. Maybe you're desperately overwhelmed about something right now and you've got a lot of things that are happening in your life and you can't seem to enjoy it. Where's John at, amen? He talked about that word joy, amen. Because so many people today thought that joy is something that just comes natural. But it's something that every child of God want to have joy in their life, amen. I think I'd be able to get up every morning and say, thank God I got joy in my life, amen. But you know what? Sometimes there's some days that we don't have the joy. Sometimes there's days that we're crying. Some days we're just upset about something because all of life ain't about joys. Sometimes the storms of life begin to break us and begin to get us down, and it's hard to get that joy back, but you've got to work at it because the Bible says the joy of the Lord is our strength. And so I thank God. When the rain is falling in our life, amen, we always turn to the story of Noah, amen, in Genesis chapter 6, amen. And I thank God as we look at this, we begin to realize that all the storms here, and the word of God, the window of Noah's ark, that he begins to tell us, he says, I'm gonna make thee an ark, he says. And so I thank God as we look at this, and again, let me go back to that scripture though. This scripture deals and it says, and these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes, that ye might learn in us. Listen, this is my underlying right here. He said, what has this got to do with Genesis? Listen to what it's fixing to say. Not to think of men above that which is written, but that no one of you be puffed up for one against another. If he wants to read any other translation, that's the King James that says, look, it says you need to take the word of God for what it says, that it is written that way. And I thank God sometimes we try to put our own translation into that, amen? But it says, don't try to think about what it is, Paul said. It says, take the written word and facts of what it means, amen? And so we don't need to argue about the facts of the Bible, amen? We need to take it for what it is, amen? And that's what Paul was trying to tell us in there. And so sometimes we try to have our own ideas about it. Here, we know the measurements. It's 450 feet long and 300 cubits, amen? 50 cubits wide, 70 feet wide, amen. And then 30 cubits high, 45 feet tall, amen. Here we see, this is a Bob version of the Noah's Ark because we got a class on Wednesday night. Brother Bob, y'all agree with me, Wednesday nighters, amen. This was what Bob was trying to describe, how it's flat on the bottom, amen, it don't look like the normal. That's what he was describing, amen. And so I thank God, we don't know how exactly it looked. We just know some of the dimensions, and this is a part of the dimensions that he had. One door and one window. I don't know if it had ventilation all the way down the top. I think it did with all those animals in there. But you know what, it only talks about the one window and one door, and it gives the dimensions, amen. Look at Noah's Ark right down here, if you can see it, it's small. And then you look at a normal ship, a Titanic, the Queen Mary, all of them are huge. About 1,100 feet for the Queen Mary. Here was about 500 feet for Noah's Ark, if you can make that out. Just to kind of give you an idea of the size of this. But you know what? The storm that they went into, God was guiding that ark, amen. And I think God, no matter what was happening, he gave them the dimensions to build it, amen. And so this is about staying alert to the word. the will and the ways of God and I thank God in fact here we're going to go inside the ark and we're going to look out then secondly we're going to go outside the ark and we're going to look in remember it's only about a cubit from my fingertip to my elbow uh then that's the window that he put in there uh can you imagine almost like well it's worthless and then last we're going to go inside the ark and we're going to look up because you know why We can only look up and we really couldn't look at all the devastation that's really below. We can only look at it. And so I thank God if we look at this and realize what the Lord wants to do for us this morning, each and every one of us of all the rooms that he talked about in verse 14. Runes shall I make in the ark and verse 16. He talked about three stories that were on the deck. As I said, I'm not preaching about the ark. I'm using the window of the ark and I'm talking about the storm this morning, amen. And I thank God the window that was at the very top of that ark, amen. He said thou shalt make to the ark a cubic, shalt thou finish it above. He's talking about in verse 16. And so the purpose of the ark was to provide a place of shelter of safety and security for Noah and his family. And you know, Brother Richard brought this up the other day. He's back with the kids, amen. He said, you know what? He said, that's a shame that only eight people got on the ark. But back in that time, the choices that were made, the evil of imaginations were so evil back in that time that no one, no one wanted to get on that ark until God closed that one door. And when he closed that door, nobody could open it. Noah couldn't open that door. And I thank God, all of those people that were outside trying to get in, because they had never heard of rain. It seeped up from the earth at that time. But God opened up the windows of heaven and it began to pour more waters out than it was even in the waters around that man. And he flooded the highest mountains that there was during that time. A horrible thing, but a storm began to come. It was an act of God's judgment upon the simpleness of society. of Noah's day, amen. But nonetheless, Noah found himself in that storm, amen. Spared? Yes. Safe and secure? Yes, amen. But nonetheless, he was in a storm. And I thank God as we look at that storm through the window of that ark, amen, we're able to get something from that this morning, amen. As I invite you to look with me through the window of the ark this morning. Like I said, you imagine, just try to imagine that little piece of wood I was going to put up here on the pulpit, amen, and trying to look out. I know it's kind of crazy this morning, but I thank God every one of us as we look this morning at what the Lord wants to do is we look at our storms through the window of the heart. The first thing that you're going to see is you try to look out that little window. You ain't going to be able to see much, but as you're looking out, it can shake our faith because as we look out, we can't see down. All of the deaths, all those people drowned and that didn't come in, only eight souls was on there. But I'm gonna tell you this morning, it'll shake your faith because the first thing we do when we go inside and we look out that little window, amen, is we see the storm that's raging all around. That's the first thing that you see when something goes wrong in our life today. We see the storm that's raging. Everything that's happening, everything that's going bad in our life today, amen. Every one of us see that storm. And I tell you, what we often see and face today, what we often face every day because something happens, amen. When we get a little bit older, all of a sudden something's happening to our health, amen. Something that we're dealing with, amen. And so the storm of this gigantic proportion of unprecedented measures taking place in the entire world, amen. And I'll tell you, it's a horrible thing. Every one of us knows what a storm is. I remember one time when I was in the military, I got caught in a sandstorm. Man, I'm going to tell you, that sand went everywhere. I mean everywhere. You couldn't keep it out of your ears. You couldn't keep it out of nowhere in your body, amen. It was a storm that I couldn't wait to get over with, amen. And when it was finally over, sand was piling up everywhere, all around us. In our tents, we were in a GQ medium out there in the desert, out in Colorado, amen. And so I thank God, every one of us, as we look at this storm, amen, as it follows us, Each and every day of our life, maybe there's something that you just haven't gotten over with. But I tell you, our storms can last a few days. They can last a few months. They can last a whole couple of years. We never know how long those storms are going to last. But they can be extensive, thank man. And so the water, the Bible says, increased. It increased greatly, amen. The water prevailed, the Bible says, and it prevailed exceedingly, amen. And our storms can come with high winds that we're going through today. Every one of us, deep waters that are leaving us totally submerged today. Imagine somebody, I used to live in a little place over at Tomahawk over by the airport, old man, and you know what it did? It flooded. I bought that house, I tried to go back, man, I went to the commissioner. I ain't gonna tell you how many meetings I went to with the county commissioner, with the Bartow County engineer, amen. Man, it did nothing. You know what? I couldn't resolve it. I couldn't, it was a done deal. And so when I sold that house, I had to take a loss. I'm the one, I admit, hey, this thing can flood unless it can be fixed. They can go and they can put a bigger cupboard underneath the road. Nobody chose to do that. Nobody wanted to do that. I thank God, every one of us. The Bible says in Genesis 7, 17, the flood was 40 days upon the earth, amen. And so all the financial, the physical, the marital, the material, all of the combination of all these things that we deal with sometimes, every one of us, amen, how that we can go through this. But Genesis 7, 11, the Bible says, all the fountains of the great deep were broken up. And the windows of heaven were opened, amen. And our storms can be a great severity of adversity, amen. I thank God what we often face when we look out and we see the storm, amen. How we often feel when that hits us, amen. Man, I'll tell you, I had an old pump. I said, I thought I was going to get smart one time. I got one of them pumps out there, and I was going to pump it out before it flooded and got into my house. I kept pulling that thing. It wouldn't even crank that day. I said, Lord, just come on in. Lord, just, there wasn't nothing I could do about it. I used that same pump to pull out of a pitted creek down there to water that big old garden I had at the time, amen. And I thank God every one of us, the hopelessness that we feel sometimes and what we go through, amen. And so I thank God the storms of life can leave us feeling so helpless, amen, and hopeless. The storms of life can be very upsetting that we go through today, amen. So when we look out, what do we see? We see that storm. But secondly, And as we look in, I thank God, it can center our faith, amen. I tell you, every one of us, as we look inside, and I thank God, as we're able to do this, this little window, we begin to go in, and all of a sudden, we begin to see something that's different. Because I thank God, as we go outside, and we begin to look back in, I'm gonna tell you what we see in there. You say, you see a bunch of animals. You're going to see Jesus because Jesus is in there with him. He's always there, but we lose our focus because we look at all the storm that's raging outside. But if we'll just go back outside that window of our life and look back in, I promise you, you'll see Jesus looking at you. Because He's right there close in whatever storm that we're going through, amen. And I thank God He's right there inside the ark, amen. I thank God every one of us, if we'll look, we'll see our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And all the discouragement that we're going through, there can be encouragement this morning, amen. And so I thank God every one of us, as we look in the ark, you begin to see the Lord's preservation that is right there. Genesis chapter 6, verses 17 and 18. We didn't read these, but you can look on it, it says, and behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life from under heaven, and everything that is in the earth shall die, but with thee will I establish my covenant. And thou shalt come into the ark, thou and thy sons and thy wife, and thy son's wife with thee. All flesh is going to be destroyed, but Noah and his family will spare. No one didn't have to fear the storm. They mean he knew that God would keep him through that storm. And I'm gonna tell you, even the storm that we're going through today, I tell you, brother, no matter how bad it is, how long that it's lasted, that he'll be with us no matter what, amen. We have his prophecy now. It's almost like a Sunday school teacher who asked her class, amen, she said, you know what, who can tell me what a yoke is? I thank God, there was this little bitty girl, she came up, she told the Sunday school teacher this, she said, a yoke is something that they put on the necks of animals, she said. And what's the meaning of God's yoke, the teacher asked. And man, that little girl said, she thought for a minute, she said, huh. And then she said, well, that's when God puts his arms around our necks, amen. I thank God he is the one that has us. He has us in the palm of his hand, amen, no matter what's going through. But sometimes we're looking at all of the storm that's raging on the outside around us and we forget what's there. Right by us, close by, amen. He's with us no matter what. He'll never leave you nor forsake you this morning. I thank God, here we can depend on Him when that storm is going up and down and around and boisterous, amen, raining hard. Boy, however, the kind of situation that you're dealing with this morning, amen. And so I thank God when we look inside, we not only see the Lord's preservation, amen, but we also see His presence that's right there with us, amen. Because I want you to notice carefully what God said to Noah in Genesis chapter 7. Verse 27, the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark." Notice carefully that God did not say, hey, go thou into the ark. He said this. He says, come thou into the ark. He says, come thou. You know what the difference is? He indicates that God right here was inside that ark with him is what that means. He was in there with them. He didn't just want them to go in there. He was going to be with them through the storm, amen. God's inside the heart asking Noah and his family to come on in, amen. Come in with him, amen, was what he was saying right there. And so I thank God Noah found himself in a storm again, but he wasn't alone. You'll never be alone this morning, whoever you are, praise God. I think that the Lord will be with you when you're going through that storm, praise God. And I thank God every morning. This reminds us of what he can do. I tell you, almost like the theological school that one of the instructors was in, amen. I thank God he was sharing a seat with this small boy that was on the shovel train. And you know what, he saw that little boy had some Sunday school material in his hand. He thought, hmm, I'm gonna quiz him a little bit. I'm gonna check, I'm gonna see what he knows, amen. And he said, boy, he said, I see you got some Sunday school material there in your hand. Uh, you've been to Sunday school and he said, yeah, yes, sir. I have. I've been to Sunday school way back. He said, well, tell me, uh, let this. And he said, you know what? Uh, where is God at right now? Now, if he is, if you could tell me where he's at right now, I'm going to give you that. He says, listen, this is what that little boy said. He was so smart. He looked up sharply at that man. He said, you know what prompted this way to get to say, he says, I'll give you a whole barrel of apples if you can tell me where he's not at because he's everywhere. Amen. I thank God today he's there, but we don't realize it because We are captivated by what's happening right in front of us, looking out and seeing the world and the ways of the world that are happening around us today. We don't see the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't see him, but he's right there next to us, amen. And so he's with us and he hasn't forsaken you. It looks like he has sometimes. Maybe we can't see him because our focus is off of him and it's on the other things out there today. And I thank God if we begin to realize that the Lord has given us a promise, amen. He has given us a covenant, amen. I thank God, he says in Genesis 6, 18, that we read, he says, but with thee will I establish my covenant. He put a rainbow in the sky. He says, I'm never gonna flood the earth ever again. He established a covenant with every one of us, amen. He's got a covenant with every individual, every one of us that are a part of the family of God in this one. He'll never break that covenant, brother Wendell. He'll never leave us, praise God. And I thank God, the Bible says in Genesis 7, 23, in every living substance, on the face of the ground. Both man and cattle were creeping things in the foul heaven, and they were destroyed from the earth, and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark." Noah had God's promise. Now thank God, he had God's promise that he would make it through the storm. You've got God's promise this morning each and every day that you'll make it through whatever it is that you're going through, amen? During the storms of life, we can trust God no matter what's happening around us right now, amen? No matter how bad it's been going, amen? You got his promise and his assurance. You can rest in God's promise this morning, amen? You can rely on it this morning, praise God. His promises assure us that we'll make it through the storm no matter how it looks right now that we're going through, amen? And I thank God, every one of us, Jesus has said, hey, let us go over to the other side. of the lake in Luke chapter 8. Boy, I tell you, they got out there and they got themselves in a storm, didn't they? But you know what? Jesus already told them that they were gonna make it. Jesus tells us that we're gonna make it to the other side. And so as we're looking out at the storm, or if you're looking in at the Lord, amen, but I thank God, if you'll look in, you'll see the Lord Jesus Christ, and He'll settle your faith. And He'll give you the strength that you need when you're looking out, seeing all the things that are out there today. His preservation, His presence, amen. I thank God that will keep you in the storm that you're going through today. His presence that will be with you, amen. And I thank God his promise as well that you will make it through that. But lastly, and in closing, I thank God he'll tell us also that as you look up, I thank God every one of us, finally we go back into the ark. We were outside looking in before we were looking out. We were outside looking in, now we're back inside. And here we look up through that window because that's all that we can do. I thank God we look up because looking up can strengthen your faith. I thank God every one of us as we go through life today, a window. You know, I thank God. You know, we got some big windows. When that hurricane come, I was in Jacksonville, Florida, doing chaplain stuff. Me and Roger Landon was. And that storm hit our neighborhood and it tore up houses and it sucked out that big window. And we had to pay somebody to come and fix that window because it had messed it up and reset it, amen. Everybody wants windows because you wanna look out. You wanna enjoy the view that that window has, amen. And I thank God, that's exactly what it is. We've gotta enjoy the windows of the Bible because there's a purpose in them that he has for each and every one of us this morning, amen. And in closing this, that we see this morning, that what the Lord wants to do is we look and realize that we look up and He can strengthen us each and every day. Only one window that was in the ark, the only way that they could look out of the ark was through that window, Amen. But I thank God in closing, I want you to look through this window, Amen, with me. Because if you'll learn to look through that window of that we look through the window that will happen is this. And I thank God it promotes dependence upon our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He's the only one that can strengthen our faith, amen. Something can shake us, something can settle us. when we go through the storms of life that we have today. Each and every one of us, it promotes that dependence that we have upon Him. Because in Genesis 6-16, the Bible says, it tells us that the window was finished above. And I thank God, because that window was above, amen, that we could look out that window that we have to look up when we look out. And I thank God we're able to see that he's the one that's there for us. Always looking up each and every day because he's the one that provides what's lacking in our life today. Every one of us. Well, I thank God there was a young lady, she was going to the mission field. All of a sudden, when she was going through the mission field, somebody came up and gave her this envelope. She said, if you're ever in any need, open this envelope. Man, all of a sudden, it was 30 years she was on the mission field. Man, she came back, she was doing a Bible study. She opened up her Bible, and all of a sudden, there was that envelope pen. She remembered 30 years ago that somebody had gave to her. Let's say, open this up if you're ever in any need, open this up. But you know what? In 30 years, she never had to open it because the Lord was with her on the mission field each and every day of her life. And so I thank God every one of us that we go through, we cannot do it in our own strength today. We've got to trust in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He's the only one that can give us that faith and our strength that we need each and every day. We've got to start out the day with Jesus, praise God. That's why I tell you, you'll never get to the place where you have nothing to depend on because the Lord will always be there for you, no matter what you're going through. No matter what your situation is today, He'll come through for you, praise God, this morning. And so I thank God. He is the one that promotes the dependence upon Him. As we look up, amen, we begin to realize that it will strengthen our faith, amen. It prevents the distraction from all of the other things that's out there today. Because even though it's in a cubicle, amen, even though it's not that big of a window, amen, the Lord is right there for us, amen. Because what does the song say? Little is much when God is in it. Boy, he can work in the small things of our life today. And I thank God that Sister Sheila comes around to the piano and hears about this. that if there's something that you're dealing with, a storm that's raging in your life, I want to encourage you to pray. Get up right now. This altar is just for you because as we reverence this time and as Sister Sheila begins to play on the piano this morning, I want to encourage you that you can have a strengthened, and realize who is watching over you each and every day. Whatever it is that you're going through in your life today, He is there looking over you and He is going to provide the very best if you just trust Him this morning. As you play this morning, I want to give you an opportunity to pray right where you're sitting at. If you won't make it up to the altar, right where you're sitting at, I want to pray with you this morning. And if there's something that you've been going through, I want to lift you up to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ this morning. Father, I ask you in the name of Jesus, Lord, whatever storm that is raging in the lives of those that are around us this morning, I lift them up to you, Father. Lord, there's no greater strength and love than our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, I ask you to intervene. And Lord, I pray that you just give the very best from your storehouses this morning. God, that you'll just look into the need that's there this morning, to meet him. Whether it's finances, whether there's loneliness, whether there's grief, sorrow, or sadness, Father. Whether it's physical things that are happening, Lord, I pray that you would be the great physician. Lord, represent him in the courtroom this morning. Whatever area of their life that is needed, Lord, that you'll go and represent them and their time and need this morning, because you love us more than anyone. that storm to the very end. Lord, I know that you will not take away the storms, but you'll be with us through them, and you'll help us to get through that storm safely. And Lord, I thank God that, Lord, there's so many times that we want to miss the storm altogether. Take this away, Father, but I pray that it'll grow stronger, that in that time of the storm with you, that our focus on you will bring us closer in our relationship with you than it ever has in the past. to be more like you, to trust you. Let our dependence be upon you always. Take our hand, Lord, right now, and help us through this difficult time that we're going through. In Jesus Christ we pray, amen. I think I brought, maybe I got a request this morning. I believe it's, this paper right here, 320. If you'll stand with me this morning, I'm asking a request this morning. 320 this morning. Hey, turn your eyes upon Jesus. As we stand, we want to open the doors of People's Valley Baptist Church by letter, by statement of faith and good standing. Maybe you don't even have a letter, but you know Jesus Christ. You can come and join based on the statement of faith this morning as a born-again Christian. so so