Let's all stand and grab a blanket and we'll turn to page 247. Page 247. ♪ Saved by the blood of the crucified one ♪ Sing praise to the Father and praise to the Son, Saved by the blood of the crucified one. My sins are all parted, my hand is all cold. Saved, saved, I'm saved by the blood of the crucified. ♪ The blood of the crucified one ♪ The angels rejoicing because it is done ♪ The child of the Father joined there with the Son ♪ Saved by the blood of the crucified one All my sins are all poured in, my guilt is all gone. Saved, saved, I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one. Amen. Saved by the blood of the crucified one. ♪ Willing was done ♪ Great Christ, Lord my pardon ♪ Is all precious done ♪ Saved by the blood of the crucified one ♪ Saved ♪ Saved ♪ My sins are all pardoned of gold. Dear Heavenly Father, we love you this morning. We're so thankful to be here. Yes. Thankful for salvation, Lord. I just pray that you keep with us today and bless every aspect of the service. I pray that you bless the choir and the special singing. Just lift their voices up for you, God. I pray that you give the preacher fresh oil. Give him another preach. Yes. I pray that we don't go through the motions today, but we receive the message and use it. I pray that you bless the offering. Multiply the Lord. I pray all these things in your name. Amen. Amen. It's 28. It's 28. The blessed Savior wrote my name when I was born again. He wrote it when He saved my soul. I'll be rogue by day, forever true. I'll be rogue by day. I'll be no stranger when I reach my home in glory land. My name is Israel. ♪ Blessed Savior rode in when He saved my soul from sin ♪ ♪ He saved my soul from sin and trial ♪ ♪ From sin and trial He wrote my name, my name ♪ ♪ And I, I love Him for He laid His head on me ♪ ♪ Jesus saved my soul from sin and trial ♪ If I should live a thousand years upon this earth below I never could forget the day ♪ My name within the blessed book of life ♪ ♪ And took my pain, it seemed, away ♪ ♪ And in the way He wrote my name, my name ♪ ♪ Lay all of the people in lame ♪ ♪ Jesus saved my soul from sin and shame ♪ ♪ No, I never strayed, no, I never strayed ♪ I'll forget the day, but bless it, save your root, my name, my name. This world's ever known, he's coming. When Christ shall return again to claim his own, he's coming. My Lord is coming. He will step from his throne on high. And when he comes, he'll not be alone. He'll bring love once you've already gone. ♪ The dead in Christ shall rise ♪ And we rich or alive shall be called up ♪ To meet Him in the air ♪ My Lord is coming ♪ He told us in His words to watch and pray ♪ My Lord is coming ♪ Some will not be prepared ♪ Don't let him catch you unaware ♪ And he's coming, my Lord is coming ♪ When at last his eyes shall see ♪ With our Lord in the air, how we like Him ♪ We'll drop this sinful flesh ♪ Love in His righteousness, how we like Him ♪ My Lord is coming ♪ My Lord is coming That's right. Amen. I sit here and think about just all He's done. I start counting my blessings one by one. I do not deserve all that He's done for me, but I'll praise Him forever through eternity. that He take the time to give us such blessings and fill up our lives. He is so good, I cannot express all I can say. He's given me breath and He's given me life. He saved my lost soul from torment and strife. He died on the cross just to show me His love. He's made me a home in heaven. Every time that I sin, He just washes it away. His mercies are new every day. His grace is sufficient for every need. He hears every prayer I pray and everything. I am amazed that he'd take the time to give us such blessings and fill up our lives. He is so good I cannot express all I can say. He is so good, I cannot express. All I can say is I am so blessed. Oh, that's nice. you or how it's changed our lives. ♪ Jesus we adore ♪ ♪ Jesus we adore ♪ ♪ Jesus we adore ♪ God bless America. God bless America. and I am proud to use my life. I've been blessed with many things. God's been good to me. I have family and friends who share in all that I do. it all and I'm left with nothing. If I have the Lord, I know I'll make He's the only reason I live, but oh, what a reason. He's the only reason I live, but oh, what a reason. You see, there's nothing in this world worth living for. It only leaves you empty and longing for more. Oh, he's the only reason I live. You may have tried a lot of things to find real happiness. But if you look very long, then you'll know it cannot be found. He'll be a reason to live and he'll never let you down. He's the only reason I live. You see there's nothing in this world worth living for. It only leaves you empty and longing for more. Oh, he's the only reason I live. But oh, what a reason. He's the only reason I live. But oh, what a reason. I'd rather live for him more than anything I know, more than houses and land. Or riches untold Than to gain this whole world And lose my soul I tell you my friend I'd rather live for Him More than anything I know You may ask me why I choose to live this way And you may wonder how I can make it through the day I've found my answer when I bow down on my knees And now I want to live for him More than anything I'd rather live for him More than anything I know More than houses and land Or riches untold Than to gain this whole world and lose my soul. I tell you, my friend, I'd rather live for him more than anything I know. All of these earthly things will ruin and decay. It doesn't matter. I don't need them. That's why my treasures are somewhere beyond the blue. I've given him my everything. Now it's all up to you. I'd rather live for him more than anything I know, more than houses and land. for riches untold, then to gain this whole world and lose my soul. I tell you, my friend, I'd rather live for Him more than anything I know. I'd rather live for Him. ♪ More than houses and land ♪ More than houses and land ♪ More than riches untold ♪ More than riches untold ♪ Than to gain this whole world ♪ And lose my soul ♪ I tell you my friend, I'd rather live for him ♪ More than anything I know ♪ I tell you my friend, I'd rather live for him ♪ More than anything I know What's so true? That's a mouthful, by the way. I'd rather live for Jesus more than anything. I don't know many people like that, just to be quite frank with you. Don't know many people like that. Fame and fortune. He's going to send a bunch of people to hell. Amen. Brother Chris, you've got something to say. I want to thank the Lord for saving us that 1st of September 2010 on a Wednesday evening. And I thank the Lord for changing me. It's been so good to Him. I just want to give you glory this morning. I've come a long way. The Lord brought me a long way. I've got a whole lot longer way to go. He's been merciful to me. He's blessed me in so many ways. I'm like the Apostle Paul. I can say I know whom I believe and I'm persuaded to keep that which I've committed unto Him. I'm glad of that and I'm glad to go to Satan. Amen. No way. That's right. Amen, amen. Don't listen to the flesh, the world. Don't listen to the devil and his lies. That's right. He'll put those thoughts in your mind and intoxicate you. That's right. There's nothing to it. It's a dead end street. I've experienced it firsthand. Amen. And I'm glad Jesus saved me and changed me. He made my life worth living. Yes, yes. Amen. Amen. Praise God. I'd rather have Jesus save me. I'm so glad the Lord saved me when I was young. I'm so glad I got saved when I was 18 years old. I did. I got saved. I made a couple of professions before then, but they was empty and didn't change me, didn't what, nothing. I'm so glad the Lord got me where he could get me and got me saved, saved me, amen. I'm just gonna be honest with you. I've definitely not been everything I should have been all these years. I have multiple millions of thoughts and fears and shortcomings. I'll tell you one thing, it ain't the fact that I ain't enjoyed what I've been trying to do, amen. I love it, amen. And it's a wonderful thing to be saved and to live for God. And you know, I'd rather live for Jesus than anything in this world. I was thinking about this a while ago. I was looking through my news feed. I don't want to sidetrack this one. I was looking through one of my news feeds this week and I come across this thing. It was about Stephen Curry. He was already making like $58 million to bounce a ball. Okay and so I think they I could be wrong somebody can correct me correct me that's be fine but I think they added a year's extension to his thing or something and now it's 69 million dollars. 69 million dollars to play basketball. And you know, he claimed to be a Christian at one time, come from a Christian school and all that, but that young man's not saved. He don't know God. And guess what? 99.9% chance he'll probably never know God. Why? Because of the fame, the fortune. I wish I could really recall what Brother Radcliffe said about that, about, Once that, that, help me with that. Oh, man. Once you're exposed to recognition and popularity, once you get exposed to that, you don't, he said, they don't never come back. It follows them the rest of their life. I'm glad I wasn't like that. I'm glad I, I mean, I liked to play sports when I was young, all that. And I'm not against sports to some degree, but I love playing baseball and all that. I would have never made a professional athlete. I wasn't that good, but I enjoyed it, amen. All that stuff is, you know, it's there. And somebody said, if somebody threw a football into hell, half the world would jump in there to get it. And that's about the truth. That's what people think about sports. Sports is one of America's gods, if you don't know that. It's America's gods. And a lot of that stuff, you know, it's in our churches too. People are hooked on that stuff bad. But anyhow, live for Jesus. You know, all that stuff. I know I'm a broken record, I can't help it. It's a dead end street, there's nothing gonna, it ain't gonna amount to nothing. When eternity's over, I wish church people could get a hold of that. It ain't gonna amount to a hill of beans 100 years from now. How many trophies you got, what you accomplished, how much money you made, how many titles you won, it ain't gonna matter. In eternity. So what are you saying? I'm saying this. I don't like, this ain't my message, but I'm saying this. It's a total waste of time. It's just a total waste of time. Listen, do we really, do we really want to live for Jesus more than anything in this world? Well, I've done told you, I don't know many people like that. I don't know many people in Temple Baptist Church like that, that want to live for Jesus more than anything in this world. That's right. God help me. God help us all, amen. I mean, he's the one that matters, isn't he? He's the one that did it for us all. If you're saved this morning by the grace of God, guess what? We owe it to him. to allow him to have our lives and to have access to our bodies and our minds and our lives to use as he sees fit. He ought to have that access. Now, guess what? You've heard it a thousand times. He's a gentleman. He ain't gonna make you. Jesus don't make nobody follow him. You didn't get up this morning, Jesus standing over your bed with a ball bat and saying, boy, you're going to church today. It don't work that way, folks. He wants us to serve Him and love Him because we love Him and we want to serve Him. You know, if you want to live for the world, you can. A lot of people are. A lot of people do. I'm talking about church folk now. A lot of people live for the world. They come to church, but that's about it. They're not involved in church. They're not committed to church. They just, I don't know why I'm saying all that, but that's pretty good preaching in here. I do want to preach a little bit here. Go right ahead. None of it brought happiness. And you know, there's that phrase, you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes. You reap what you sow. And all the stuff, I wish I had gotten saved when I was younger. But there's a lot of stuff that's consequences now. Oh yeah, no doubt. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Oh yeah. May not deceive, God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap. But I'll get saved preacher, it don't matter. It don't stop the process. That's right. Oh yeah. Yep, don't stop the process just cause you get saved. That's the reason you better be living right and doing right. It'll come back and get you. It'll bite you. That's right. It sure will. Consequences. People don't like to hear that. Consequences for sin. They are. Amen. That's the reason it would behoove us to live godly, live holy. Amen. Do right. Do right. Do right for start's fault. Do right. What everybody else ain't doing. It don't matter what everybody else is doing. Amen. Amen. I'm telling you, if God helped me, if all of my heroes that I have this morning, if ever one of them decided to run back in the world and just forget about preaching and forget about church, that don't mean I am. Don't mean I will. That's right. By the help and grace of God. That's right. Amen. That's right. Amen. Everybody good? Amen. I want to thank the Lord for saving me, and I want to thank Him for the preaching over the last couple of weeks. I want to thank God for the men of God that took time to study and to seek the Lord. I'm telling you, those messages were very convicting, many of them. I'm thankful to the Holy Spirit for moving in with several nights just to do this. And I know what I said in my heart, I said, I don't know, I don't think so. I want to, Lord, but I don't feel like I'm at that point where, do I want revival? Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. It's in the rain, you know. But I said, Lord, my desire is that to be what you put in. I want that. That's what I want. I want that to be my desire. And I want to be pleasing in Him. I'm 54. I don't know how much longer I have on this earth, but I want my life to count for it. When you mess up, when you fail, when you falter, you've got to leave those things in the past because those will haunt you and they will keep you bound down. But God, I was reading, I think it was over there, John 8, God has made us, or He said it twice, make you free. I've not just been set free, I've been made free. And I can't do that on myself. I will get myself back up before the day is even over. But I'm thankful that God does not throw the clay away. I'm thankful that he is long suffering in your soul. I agree with David on that. that God is merciful and His mercy endures forever. I'm thankful for that, that every day His mercy is new every morning. Why? Because that's towards me. I want to thank Him for that. I just want to tell Him I love Him and I'm thankful for His conviction. I'm thankful that the Holy Spirit convicts us when we have bad attitudes, when we say things we ought not to say, when we talk about people when we shouldn't be. I want to thank God for the sweet, holy ghost that convicts and pierces and pokes. I think it was Jared that said my daddy would go take his finger and say, boy. I want to thank God for the sweet, holy ghost that convicts and pierces and pokes. I think it was Jared that said my daddy would go take his finger and say, boy. Your attitude stinks. Your spirit's wrong. Your thinking's wrong. And I thought about that scripture over the summer that we learned. It said, you know about our minds? All these things that are just and honest and pure and lovely, if there be any virtue. If you're thinking on those things, you won't have time to think negatively about somebody else or something that's going on. I want to thank Him for His sweet Spirit. I want to thank Him that I have a copy of the Word of God every day. When I read it, I want to thank Him that He speaks to my heart. I don't always obey it like I should, but I want y'all to pray for me. I send Anita's prayer. Amen. Praise the Lord. And I just want to say real quick. Yes, sir. Thank the Lord for saving me. Go ahead. He testified. Okay. Thank the Lord for saving me when I was 15 years old out on the mountain. Yeah. But I was, we used to talk about Steph Curry. It made me think of ideas. So this is your fault. I'm just picking, but. It's all right. I was thinking about this, I was watching the soccer players interview this past week. And he was talking about, he's about the same age as me. He's one of the best in the world. I mean, one of the best in the world. He's playing right now. But he was talking about how the soccer, and he called it football, but football is his life. And he's talking about how much he eats, what he eats, how much he sleeps. how much he practices, everything revolves around football, soccer. And that's his life. I just thought, I'm so glad my life's a lot bigger than that. And when God saved me, the Bible said, when we set our affections, like Brother Michael was talking about, on the things above and not on the things on earth, the Bible said, when Christ, who is our life, shall appear. I'm so glad that I hadn't always put the time in it like I should have. But I want to do that for the Lord like He does for worldly things. And for things that ain't gonna matter. And to really realize that He is my life. And He gave me life, and He is my life. It won't have to be what Paul said, for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. And you know, that's probably one of the most misquoted verses in the Bible, Philippians 121. He don't say, for me to live is Christ. He says, for to me to live is Christ. And to die is gain. Well, he's saying, I don't care what y'all's life is. I don't care what you say. Well, my life is this, my life is that. He's saying to me, to live is Christ. And to die is gain. And I'm a winner either way. He gave me life and he is my life. I want him to be my life. And I just thank God what you said made me remind me of that. I just thank God you said that. I helped him too. But I thank the Lord for that. He gave me life. And I want to ask him to forgive me for not always giving him mine. Help us, Lord. Me too, Lord. Oh, forgive me, Lord. Help me, Jesus. In 2 Corinthians 5, it talked about how that Christ, the love of Christ constraining us, how that one died for all and we're all dead. And he said that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again. That's right. And I just thank the Lord this morning. I don't want my life to just be in something stupid. I like stuff like that, like you said. But I want my life to be a lot bigger than that. Thank God it is. I woke up this morning and just wore a slap out. I cracked the vessel and put it open on me. My body is tired, but man, my inner man is jumping up and down. And I want to thank the Lord for saving me, for being so good to me. And I was thinking about how when you put other things before Christ, and you're not, your relationship with him isn't right, the most miserable I've ever been in my entire life was when my relationship with my wife was in crisis. I am living an absolute dream right now. God has been so good to me because my relationship with him is in a direction where it should be. If you want peace in your life, if you want real joy in your life, it comes from living for God. And this is the greatest life I've ever been in. I want to thank him for being so good to me and for speaking to my heart these last couple of weeks, for working on me. Amen. Praise God. Amen. Amen. Praise the Lord. Thank God. Outward man's perishing, but the inner man is renewed day by day. Oh, yes. Yeah, I'm an inner man. Oh, hallelujah. This old body of flesh I'm living in, it's changing drastically, amen. It ain't nothing like it used to be, amen. But praise God, we still are going, amen. Yeah, my mind says you're 25. My body says you're stupid, amen. Enter, man. Oh, yes. Oh, thank God for that, amen. Thank God. You must need to testify. Listen, I don't care if all of you testify. I'm still preaching. I don't care if you're here at four o'clock at night. It don't matter to me. I want you to testify now. Don't grieve the Spirit. Don't quench the Spirit just because I said that. Amen. You ought not be in a hurry to get out anyhow. Let's say amen right there. 12 o'clock don't mean nothing to me. I heard a preacher say one time, he said, my folk love me, I let them out at 12. I said, well, I'm gonna follow God. And hopefully my people still love me, amen. That's right. We're gonna follow God. I ain't putting God, I ain't putting, say God now, if you're gonna do something, you gotta do it before 12 a.m., 12 p.m. on Sunday or you can't do it. And we, I'm not operating that way. These guys can if they want to, I'm not doing it, amen. If I'm here to 11.30, if I'm here to 5.12, it don't matter to me. If we've done the will of God, if we can do it in 30 minutes, hallelujah. If it takes a little bit longer, I'm good with that too, amen. I want him to be pleased. We got to quit worrying about our feelings and what's going on after a while, and our time, and if the Methodist is going to beat us to the solid bar and mess the solid bar up for us badgers getting the bat. Listen, we ought not be worried about all that. We ought to be concerned if God shows up, amen. Amen, hallelujah. Woo, boy, I'm glad I'm at Temple, amen. I know I'm not where I need to be. May neither help us, Lord. The first time I bowed at that altar to the second time, big, big deal. I was just thinking about all these people going up there. How many of them wanted to be saved or were they just working on themselves? I heard there was like four or five one night. I never heard the tone. I prayed and prayed and prayed that whole time that all of them need to be so you can be so. Amen. Sure. That's the time to really get serious. That's right. He's done everything for me. He's made my life so much better. And it's what we talk about. I used to get real mad sometimes at things. When I started to get mad, I'd think back. You don't want me to do it. You don't want me to do it. There you go. So I just back off. The way I think of things has completely changed. That's right. That's right. Don't see things the same way I did, like sports. I used to be a football fanatic. I wasn't like, it was my God, but I love football. Last year, I hardly watched, I think I watched the Super Bowl. It don't mean that much to me, that's right. I just want to thank the Lord for saving me and bringing me to this church and all of you. Come on and say it, praise God. There it is. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Can't be saved, not be changed. It's an impossibility to say I'm saved and God never changes anything in your life. You just didn't get it. Just didn't get it, amen. You didn't get what I got. Amen. And I tell you, almost 42 years later, he's still working on me. Amen. I've tried to be a good piece of pottery where he wouldn't have to be so hard working on me, amen. I try to have a willing spirit, amen. That's right. Amen. Amen. All right, I want you to obey the Holy Spirit now. I want to thank God for saving me. He made 1st, 2022, and you know, in choir, we sing that song. In just the past month alone I've So many things have been brought to mind. And God has been so good to me and my family. I want to thank Him. Amen Pete. Praise the Lord son. Amen. God is good. Amen. It's August 28th, which was his past Wednesday. Well I know it's his birthday. Yeah. Oh yeah. Praise God. That's good. Amen. Amen. Amen. Praise the Lord. A happy spiritual birthday. Amen. Amen. Got a one-year-old on her hands. Amen. Two-year-old, two, it's already been two? Oh my goodness, two-year-old. Praise the Lord, I love it, amen. Praise God. Amen. I guess the only thing better than being saved is knowing it. Amen. Hallelujah. All right, anybody else need a test file? Rag on the Lord. fall in that little koi pond. That's how it felt when I got saved. I was drowning in my sin and my guilt. And God had to come down and pull me out of that and rush me off and change me. I was so thankful. It's crazy where I came from and where I'm at now. I'm so thankful. Amen, Mason. Praise God, Mason. Amen. Thank God. Lord said, whoop, let's go pee over here. I love it. Oh man, praise God. God is good, amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Great job and thank the Lord for saving me on June 27th, 2021. I want to thank him for where he brought me from a little over three years ago. Three years ago. He told me even several years ago that I'd be going to a camp And some of the girls at work were going to go up to eat one day last week and ask me if I wanted to come. And I said, no, I have more important things to do. And they were like, really? And I was like, I have to be at church. And they're like, you were at church all the time. And I said, you can save your heart really. Amen. Amen. That's right. Amen. Hey man, praise the Lord. Also supposed to run, is he supposed to run? Did they say that? Uh oh. God be with you. Amen. Well, I ain't no brother Allen, but that worked pretty good, amen. Well, he said, son, you four or five out there, just go run for the Lord, go run for the Lord. Man, I'd run for like 30 minutes, I'd say, man, I'm glad he didn't pick me, amen. Amen. Well, we ought to praise Him when He's good to us. He's good to us, ain't He? Amen. And God be the glory for it all. Amen. Amen. Hallelujah. Amen. Praise the Lord. Yeah. I was talking about new sports, and I've been seeing football season is about to start. Oh, yeah. And I've been seeing people talk about how Sunday, you know, they got something to do. Their Sunday's set until February, so they're all decided they'll have something to do on Sunday, but I'm glad I'm not gonna have to wait until football's on Sunday. I got the house of God. I've got Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. Amen. Amen. I don't know if they have Wednesday night games, so I've got it all, I guess. I just want to thank you for saving me, and I want to thank you for just my health, because I was talking to Brother Ratney on Friday when we went out to eat with him. He was telling me about his son and how he really don't have much of a life outside of Amen, praise God. Amen, praise the Lord. Amen. Oh, yes. Thank the Lord. Praise God. What a Savior. Anybody else need to obey the Lord? That's all I can ask. Amen. That's right. Mm-hmm. Amen. Right. I want to thank Him that He found me where I was. And He put people in my life and brought me here where I could hear truth. And it wasn't you telling me I needed to believe this, but it was me going in the Lord myself. Amen. Amen. And the Lord speaking to me. Amen. That's right. And saving me and changing me. Amen. Completely turning my life. Amen. I would say upside down, but right side up, I guess. Yeah, yeah. That's right. Amen. Praise God, it's good. The mercy of God. It's the mercy of God, amen. The grace of God, mercy and grace of God. There's millions of people sitting in false religion today. I mean, they sincerely believe, too. And they're gonna wake up in hell. It's awful. of 23, and when the preachers talk about people sitting there, fighting it, not knowing for sure, and all those things, it just takes me back, because of all the years that I spent that way. And I just thank the Lord that on March the 8th, I don't know why, I don't know why, because I mean, I wasted my whole life, my whole life, I got saved in 72. I wasted a whole life. It hurts. It hurts so deep. A lot of times I'll beat myself up about it, but God loves me. He'll speak to me and He'll tell me He'll save me. I love you. Amen. I can help you do what I've set for you to do. Amen. That's right. Just let me help you do it. That's right. That's right. And y'all pray for me. Amen. Use her, Lord. Help her, Jesus. I'll go, well, I'm old, and I can't, and I can't, and I can't. Well, I found out this past week I can. That's right. That's right. I believe that. That's right. Yeah, that's it. If I keep saying I can't and say I can, it may take me a little while to get up there or do that thing. But God, he knows me, and he knows my heart, and he knows that I'm trying. Amen. And he'll work with me, get me in the Word, and help me through the preaching and just get me to where I need to be. And I thank God for that. I do, I thank God for that. Because I carried a whole lot of stuff with me from all these years of professing and not possessing. I did. And it took me the most of the first year just to get through all of that and see for what it truly was, and not what I just hadn't thought of. Like April said, somebody told me. Somebody told me, so I believed it. You know? And I mean, you just, till God shows you, till God shows you. You can't explain it. You just can't explain it. But until he just comes to you and speaks his word to you, No one else, just you. Until he does that, he just breaks all those barriers down. And all the false hope, and that's what I had was false hope. And now, huh. It's so different, and I thank Him for it. I thank Him for it. And I just thank God that He is that type of God. Amen. I mean, we all need Him in different ways. Amen. But I thank Him that He is just so personal that what I may need, another may not. And just because they may do something, I can't do it. I need to do what God tells me to do. That's right. When I face Him, it's going to be me and no one else. And I thank God for that. It's just amazing to me how different real Christianity is. Right, right. Amen. Praise God. Amen. That's right. Oh, thank God. Amen. Well, it's good to be saved. I'm glad you got saved. The old thief on the cross is not coming down. He has no time left, Miss Vicki. He is going to die in a matter of moments. Lord, if you'd remember me. God saved that old boy, the Lord saved that old boy knowing he'd never do a thing for him. You've had a little time. You may have a whole lot more time than you think. So live for God. You can do more in five years than some people do a whole lifetime. Ain't no shame in getting saved when you're old. Thank God you got saved, amen. Hallelujah. Praise God, obey the Holy Spirit, man, I love it. September 8, 2020. Next Sunday will be four years. God changed my life. And the devil's been on my back a lot lately. Oh, yeah. And telling me not to stand up. That's right. Trying to apply to a brother, right, that said, you're not my father. Hey, that's right. That's right. He's a liar. Y'all know this. Y'all are my family. I've been cool for a long time. I think it was December 6. I got just tore up. My world got completely upside down. And I guess you could say I got mad at God, and he left me for a while. And I just got things right last week with everything. And I just want to apologize to y'all. I want us to go farther with God. And I just want to say I'm thankful for my father. Amen. We forgive Jeremiah for being that way. Amen, we forgive, amen. That's right. Yep, that's right. Praise God. The Lord will pull off of you. He'll never leave you, but his presence will pull off of you. Amen, that's right. And you can't grieve him. You can't hurt him. That's right. Thank God when you get home to yourself now, he'll come back. He'll let you know he's still around, amen. He's not going nowhere. He'll never leave me nor forsake me. He's always there, but sometimes he's there. You acknowledge it, you recognize the presence of God. I want to live in the presence of God. I really do. I can't say that I do that, but it's my goal to live in the manifested presence of God daily, hourly, moment by moment, being conscious of His presence. Amen. Anybody else need to testify? Pray on the Lord. If you'll give me about 30 minutes, we're gonna preach this message. Hebrews chapter 12. Lord laid this on my heart. I know, there ain't no doubt in my mind, God wants to help us today. He wants to help me. I need this message. And he wants to help you. Hebrews 12 verse one. We're foreseeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. Let us lay aside every weight And the sin, notice it's singular there. It don't have to take but one. And the sin which doth so easily beset us. And let us run with patience the race that is set before us. This race is set before us. Verse two says, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, he had a race that was set before him. He endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself. Thank God I'm glad he endured it all. Lest you be wearied and faint in your minds, and Paul tells these persecuted Jews here, these Hebrews, you have not yet resisted unto blood striving against sin. Thank you, and you can be seated. Lord, I thank you for the great testimonies today. Thank you, Lord, for your love and mercy and for how you have stirred our hearts and helped us in these days, Lord. We're thankful for every message you've let us hear, Lord. We're thankful for every preacher, man of God, that took time to pray and study, and God, come in tune with the Lord. I thank you for helping us and helping our church, and I pray, God, that you'll continue to help us. Oh, God, as we've entered into another month, Lord, the ninth month of the year, Lord, I pray, Lord, that you'll help us, Lord Jesus, to give our best for Jesus in these days that you give us, Lord. I pray you'll bless everything that we've got scheduled in this month. Lord bless the jubilee and the fired up Friday night and all of our services on Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesdays. Oh God, may we take advantage of these moments of time and may you help us and may we be benefited from them and God, you'll help us and we'll love you for what you do in Jesus' name, amen. Just wanna preach just a few moments this morning on fixing your focus. Fixing your focus, he says, verse number two, looking. unto Jesus, amen. So we come to chapter 12 and we know that Paul has just finished one of the greatest chapters in the Bible that has often been referred to as Heaven's Hall of Faith. And he listed quite a few different individuals in that chapter there and through the thing called faith. they accomplished great things for the glory of God. As I begin to think about these individuals and these great feats that these people accomplished, and you need to read that chapter sometime if you haven't in a while and just see what all these people were up against and how God touched them and helped them and used them. And there's no doubt in my mind when I studied those people that there's no doubt that from one time to another, those people, they had to fix their focus. They had to get their focus back on God, amen. And so when you consider their trials and their hardships and many for them, it meant martyrdom. They had to have their eyes on the Lord Jesus. And I would dare say that if we don't have our eyes on Jesus in the dead time we live in, we won't last very long, amen. And so fixing your focus, this is what we need to do, and not only one time, but as we go through life, there'll be countless times that we must fix our focus if we continue on for the cause of Christ. It's very simple to understand who we're to fix our focus upon, amen. Looking unto Jesus, and you'll never go wrong looking at him, amen. You can look at men, look at a man, and you'll be disappointed. But I've never been disappointed when I look at Jesus, amen. That's right. And so it's very easy this morning to get our focus on the wrong things and the point that they can become what the Bible calls here, they become weights and even the sin. Paul challenges here in this chapter, he says to lay aside these things. Whatever you would want to call it, whatever it is, that thing that adds, what it's doing, it's adding to the difficulty in your spiritual progress. Anything that would take away from your spiritual progress, that would take away from you growing in the Lord, you need to be very aware of that and very alert about that because, you know, You'll be hindered in your walk with God. These things do not have to necessarily be external. They can be internal in our heart, and that's a message in itself, amen. Paul also says here in this text, which does so easily besets. In other words, it ensnares. It traps us. It's something that clings to us. And what that does, it impedes progress again in freedom and motion forward, amen. Our focus can get on the waste and the sin is such a matter, it has the ability to sidetrack us from our course. So down through the years, I have seen people bend the race and then begin to wander. They never get nowhere. They're not making any kind of spiritual progress in their life. You know, some people have got it down to an art of looking busy while they're doing nothing. People do that on the physical job. They can act like they're looking, they look like they're busy and they're not doing a cotton picking thing. I would challenge you to stay away from that. Don't let that happen on your physical job, and definitely don't let that happen in your spiritual life, amen. I see people begin to wander. They're not making any spiritual progress. They're at a dead still. They're at a standstill in their life. You should be making progress with every moment that God gives you life, amen. And then I've seen people wobble. They not only wander, but they wobble. There's no stability. There's no stand in their life. And then I've seen people, when they begin to whine, they begin to complain and murmur about every little thing in their life. Can I just go ahead and remind you that God does not bless whiners. God does not bless complainers and murmurs, woe is me, I'm having such a hard time. Well look around honey, there'll be somebody having a harder time than you. Whining's for babies. And I have seen some 70 and 80 year old babies. What are you saying preacher? I'm saying with all due respect, grow up. You don't have to whine about every little thing that goes wrong in your life, amen. Every little thing that happens in your life shouldn't throw you in a turmoil, shouldn't throw your life upside down. Get some stability, amen. That just lets me know you're not walking with God. When people walk with God and they face circumstances, it might jolt them a little bit, but they're not gonna be knocked out of the boat. Then I've seen some people wreck because they never got refocused. And then unfortunately, I've seen a lot of people withdraw. They go back to the world and their own way of living. But I do want to say over the years, I've seen a few people go through the fire and they got their focus fixed on the right things. And they just kept right on serving God, had been a blessed to others in spite of what they were going through. That's the kind of person I want to be. That's the kind of person you should desire to be. And you won't do that unless you get your focus fixed. When you're focusing in on the weights and the sin, you will not last long in the race. It's amazing what we can get so focused in on at times. How these weights and sin can consume our time and our attention to the point we're not running the race, amen. Bible does say here that there are a great cloud of witnesses that are watching us and compassionate. I've heard a lot of ideas of what that can mean. I'll be honest with you, I don't know what it really means. I've heard some preachers say that's the saints in heaven. Well, I wouldn't argue with that. Some people say it might be the angels. Well, I couldn't argue with that. Some people say it's the host of heaven. Well, whatever it is, we are being watched. Amen from above. And whoever it is, it might be the Lord Jesus himself. I don't know, but I do not want to let him down. Do you? It's good to know that even though we do not see them or hear them, we have somebody cheering us on and to run our race, amen. We're not to be only spiritual soldiers this morning, but we're to be spiritual athletes, amen. Oh, if we could somehow take the mentality of the Olympians and they work on that spirit, certain event that they're gonna be at. They focus in on that one event for four years. I mean, they practice day and night. They're getting paid to do this, amen. That would be a blessing, amen. And they're getting paid to do that, and they give themselves to that one time that they're gonna compete for a medal. That one day won't be burned out, won't be anything, amen. But they still do it, and they're gonna continue to do it, amen. But what I'm saying is if I could somehow get that mentality of their work ethic in the physical rim, and get that into my spiritual work ethic, oh my, what a difference that would make in our spiritual lives, would it not? If we could have that work ethic. that they have, they spend hours upon hours at the gym, hours upon hours on the field, hours upon hours of doing this and doing that to be the best that they can be. Oh, my friend, don't we owe it to Him to be the best that we can be. Oh, may God help us, amen. I'm a spiritual athlete, amen. And guess what, this course we're on is a well-beaten path. Thank God we've been, we have been many to, they've been many to run the path and they made the way to heaven and we can too, amen. There's several things we gotta do in order to stay in the race. We gotta keep the faith, verse number two. It was by faith that those other saints did what they did for God, amen. Paul said, I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course, amen. He finished it. How did he do it? He said, I have kept the faith. He'll be faithful by faith that we serve God. He was keeping from fainting. Verse three, oh yes, considering him. Verse three, if you're in such contradictions, let's you be weary. And Paul's telling these people, and faint in your minds, amen. Fainting in your minds, that's where you faint. I was reading, I'm reading the book Brother Jones wrote on minding your mind, and he said he come across a statement, well I can't remember that statement, he did say this in the book, he said, every battle is either won or lost in the mind. Paul says you people are fainting where? Not in your heart. You're not faint of heart, but you're fainting in your mind. Oh, the mind, the thought life. Consider the Lord Jesus and all he went through just for us. Notice where the fainting is in the mind. And every battle is lost to one in the mind. Well, you gotta keep the faith, you gotta keep from fainting, you gotta keep fighting. Paul says, you have not resisted unto blood, striving you yet sin. While we're fixing our focus, let's fix our focus on verse number two. Oh, my friend, he said, look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Oh, this ain't nothing new, but we need to focus our attention on the creator. Looking unto Jesus, what does the Bible say? The author. He started it all, amen. Jesus is the creator of you and I, physically as well as spiritually, amen. Oh yes, God, His Word says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, amen. God created your physical body of which you have and live in, amen. Oh, I thank God that I have a creator. We was created in the image of God Almighty, amen. Oh yes, thank God I didn't come from a monkey, amen. I come from a holy father in heaven, thank God. Oh yes, and so we gotta look to our creator, Jesus, begin this life of faith in us when he gave us the faith to believe that he would save us, amen. The writer of Ecclesiastes says, remember now, thy creator in the days of thy youth, Peter said, wherefore, let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful creator. Notice here the Bible says Jesus is the author of our faith, the creator, he began it in us. Sometimes our fate, It's gonna be tested and tried. It's the devil's job to get our focus off of what our life's supposed to be all about. I appreciate Brother Chris' testimony. Our life, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Christ, who is our life? Is he your life? Well, he ought to be, he should be. You claim to be saved, your life ought to be all about him. I'm glad He made His life all about us. We ought to make our life all about Him in return. I don't know where I got this cough. I ain't had it all week. Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier, Jesus Christ. And the Bible said that Paul said, no man that woreth. We're in the Bible. He said, no man that woreth entangleth himself. Where? With the affairs of this life. Oh my. There's a whole series of thousands of messages just on that verse right there. That phrase right there, no man that worth entangling himself with the affairs of this life. How do we keep ourselves from getting tangled up with the affairs of this life? Oh my goodness, that's a battle right there in itself. Why do we not want to do that, that we may please Him who had chosen Him to be a soldier? I'm not saying that there'll not be things that happen in our lives that we do not need to give some attention to, but I know in my life that if you're not careful, things have a way of consuming you. and get so much of your focus that the Creator will fade off in the distance and you'll not be allowed to be a part of the problem. You'll be trying to handle it yourself. Oh, we know what happens when we try to handle our things ourselves, we generally make a bigger mess out of it, amen. Fix your focus on the Creator. Always keep in mind that Paul is writing to these persecuted Jews. These people felt like quitting. They're watching people die before their very eyes. These people might have had fears in their life. They're fading in their mind, Paul said. Oh my friend, he said you gotta look up, look into Jesus. Amen, not only do we need to look at our creator, but we need to look at our consummator. Looking into Jesus, the Bible says this, the author and the finisher of our faith. He started it and he'll finish it. Until Jesus finishes our fate, between now and then, it'll be tested and tried. Job said, but he knoweth the way that I take. When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. And can I remind you that he said, when he had tried me. All of our troubles and trials are not from the devil, okay? And sometimes the Lord will allow you to have troubles and trials. Oh, that's right, the Lord will go and try you sometimes. The Lord, not the devil, the Lord will try you sometimes. Peter said that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold, that precious though it be tried with fire, it might be found in praise and honor and glory to the pen of Christ. Jesus cried, but everything is not strange, because we're in the fire of trial, which is to try you as though some strange thing happening to you. But rejoice in so much as your partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy. Listen, if you do not kick out of your trial, but go through it and stay with the Lord, while you're going through them, one day after a while, he will finish our faith, and we will run a nice mile, and this life will be over. We must fix our focus on our consummator, the one that will finish our faith. looking down at Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Notice the Bible said, for the joy that was set before him endeared the cross. We gotta fix our focus on this thing called courage. There's no doubt in my mind Jesus had courage. I know it was God, but it was a man in the flesh. There's no doubt in my mind that his flesh might have resisted and struggled in his flesh. I know that. How do you know that? Because when he was in the garden, Brother Destiny said, Father, if this could just, if it could be some other way, but then his inner man took over and said, Father, not my will, but thine be done. He had to have courage. It takes courage to stand the fight. It takes courage to stand the trial. It takes courage to stay in that trouble there in your life. Oh, it takes courage, amen. God can give us courage to endure, amen. It's not as easy to live for Jesus as some people think it is. Amen. You read chapter 11, you'll see what courage he is. Oh, they had courage, and that's the reason they finished the course. I like what God, I like what the Lord said to Joshua. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong, but of good courage. Be not afraid. Neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee, whether sure or thou goest. Jesus, of course, took him to the cruel cross. where he took courage and endured it. He stayed with it and stayed on it for you and I. I doubt our course will take us to a cross, but our course will take us down some long, hard valleys, some difficult trials of life. You just gotta fix your focus and have some courage and be brave and ask God to help you, amen. I believe we need to fix our focus on choice. Oh, that powerful word, choice. Bible says about Jesus here that he was despising the shame. He chose to do that. The shame was being crucified. The shame that he must go through on account of us. You were counted as a criminal by man and a curse by God to be hung on the cross. The shame that Jesus is willing to bear for you and I. I believe we need to fix our focus in on his choice. He chose to finish the difficult course. If you stay in church, you'll have to choose to do it. If you stay with God and stay the course that God has given to you in your life, you'll have to choose to do it. And guess what? Nobody can make that choice for you. If we, listen, if Jesus would have decided to chose a different route, we'd all been doomed for hell and no hope. Aren't you glad Jesus chose to stay on the cross, finish the course? Oh, we too must choose to do so. I have said before people this, but people do what they wanna do, amen. Our flesh cringes and fights us when we are called upon to go through trials. Many have made the choice to quit on God and the church and do their own thing, go their own way. Many will stand before the Lord. I say about this, many will stand before the Lord having an unfinished race. Having an never finished race, a race that was never finished. I'm thinking about the pastors that I've sat under that will never finish their race. Sad, they chose to quit. We need to fix our focus in our Savior's choice, who despised the shame of the cross, but stayed upon it. Can I say this to you, folk that are before me this morning, before you quit, you need to look again at that fountain filled with blood. Oh, you need to consider Him and the cross before you quit. You need to look at the fellow soldiers who need you to stay in the fight. You ought to look again. You ought to look again to your family, your friends. What are your foes gonna think about it? What are those that are being fateful gonna think if you choose to quit and walk away? Oh, they'll keep serving God, but they'll do it with a wounded spirit and a wounded heart. Oh, my friend, they've been many chose to go a different route. I mean, I've had people involved in my life and God has brought people in my life and they've chose to go here, chose to go there and do this and do that. Oh, my friend. Oh, my friend. And sometimes it hurts so bad. but I must keep looking to Jesus, amen. Amen, that's right, that's right. We need to look at the creator, we need to look at the consummate, we need to look at the curse, we need to look at the choice. If we fix our focus on him, we must by faith look up far above this world, amen. Let me ask you a question. Where's your point of concentration? Some people's point of concentration is on their family. But it never should be before God. You should never put your family before God. God first, family second. Some people's concentration is on their job. How much church do people miss because of a job? And some of it could be rearranged where it wouldn't have to be that way. You're hurting your spiritual growth in life. If there's a way that you could not have to work on Sunday or Wednesday and be here at the house of God, that would be better. I know some people, I don't expect people to jump up and change jobs and all that. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying, You know, if you don't have to be there, and you just decide you're gonna go do it and stay in church, that ain't good. And listen, I can't help you got bills, I didn't make them. You made them. You know what that's called? It's called poor choices. You get yourself in a financial ditch, and the next thing you know, you're having to work overtime and do this and that, and you're missing the house of God. You ain't come back once or twice a month. Can I say, kind sir, that you need to rearrange your schedule? Can I say, kind ma'am, that you need to work on that, amen? That's right, amen. You know what I did when I got saved? I was working on Sunday when I got saved. Most of the time, I had a job that required me to work on Sunday. Of all places, I was working at a convenience store. Well, I wasn't making millions of dollars at the convenience store. I was barely making enough to get by. And back in the 80s, that might have been, I don't know what the minimum wage was then, but it wasn't much more than that, probably $2 or $3 an hour. It's a funny thing happened, Brother Chris, I got saved. I got saved. It wasn't a matter of weeks, the Lord began to tell me about that. He said, son, you gotta say, I'd be there on church on Sunday. I'd be taking all them people's money, doing all that stuff. I mean, Sunday was our busiest day. That's right. The Lord said, don't you need to be at church on Sunday? I began to, God began to deal me about that. I wasn't saved very long at all, God began to deal me about that. Maybe we need to park here a little bit, amen. God began to work on me about that. It didn't take me long to figure out, this a boy, hey, I'm saved, I belong at church on Sunday morning and Sunday night and Wednesday, and if God will help me, I'm gonna be at every revival meeting, anything the church has got scheduled going on, buddy, I am gonna be there fully on this stinking job. My spirit's here after your spirit's here after in order to be more important than making a buck. So what'd you do preacher? I put it in my notice because I know they weren't gonna work with me. I said, I'm gonna go ahead and put my notice in. I said, I know you ain't gonna let me work here and be off on Sunday. No, we ain't gonna do that. And you probably heard me tell this story, and I don't wanna get bogged down here, okay? But I went, I talked to another man that worked at a convenience store. And I said, sir, I said, I said, is there any way I could work here and not have to work on Sunday? He said, yeah, sure. I said, really? You'd let me off on Sunday and Wednesday where I could go to church? Yes, come on in, boy. Well, praise God, that was a working good. Till about the third month. You think I could pull this shift, Sunday? I said, wait a minute, sir. I said, what did we discuss before I took his job? He said, well, I know, but it's just one. I said, sir, I'm not doing it. Okay, well, let me work a little while longer, then he got rid of me. Guess what? God finally gave me a job. I bet church won't send one. And that was back in the 80s. And guess what? I ain't never had to worry about that since then. Amen. And I changed jobs two or three times, a couple times, and never had to do it again. You just got to make up your mind. Amen. That's right. I'm just saying, you got to lift your eyes. People's concentrations on the family, sometimes it gets on their job, sometimes their concentrations on the material possessions. If God is good enough to bless you with nice things, you should forget where they come from and honor Him and His house. The Bible plainly states that thou shalt have no other gods before me, and yet people sit in churches all across America today have let gods, little gods, come in between them and the true and living God, and they think nothing about it at all. Can I hit this as gently as I know how? I'm talking about fixing our focus, okay? We need to fix our focus, amen. I'm trying to help you. I'm not mad at nobody, I'm trying to help you. I love you, amen. Some people get their focus on fun and carnality. We must be careful of having fun and carnality to keep us away from the house of God so much. I've already said it. Your spirituality is more important than having fun and taking it easy. And going off on vacation five and six times a year. What are you gonna do when you retire? You ever gonna be at church? Or you gonna be gone all the time? I ain't got no confidence in stuff like that. Why people that retire oughta just, I mean, sure enough, get involved in the church, amen. And I'm not mocking vacations. I'm getting ready to go on one for two weeks, amen. But I'm just saying, I'm just simply saying this morning, serving the Lord's more important than having fun and getting carnal. Amen. And being gone all the time. That's right. Amen. That's right. And don't blame me for preaching this. I've been put in a position to preach this. Amen. By choices that people make. Amen. Everybody still love the preacher? Everybody still on the preacher's side? Everybody got the preacher's back? Amen. Everybody in the preacher's corner? That's right. Listen, he's the only reason I live. It should be, amen. That's right. We get focused on fun and carnality. There ain't nothing wrong with that. We do it, I like it, I love it, amen. But it is not gonna consume my life and I'm not gonna miss a bunch of church services on account of it. Amen. That's right. Amen. Oh, you gotta be look out. You gotta be able to look out for these distractions. And there are many. The devil put them out there for you, buddy. Oh, yes. That's right. Signed? Are you signed? Well, sure you are, praise God. But my question is, are you really gonna go with God or not? You're really gonna go with God. Is he really gonna be all about... Is he the one that's really all about your life? What about all this other stuff? Honey, I don't have but one life to live! Don't doubt if I'm gonna spend it on fun and carnality all the time! I'm not gonna do it! I'm gonna serve God! Amen. Woo! Well, that went home, it didn't come back, so that's a good thing. Amen. You gotta fix your focus, amen. Gotta fix your focus. That's right. And I can say a whole lot more right there, by the way. I'm holding that till January 1. Yeah, I got a message January 1. We're gonna preach to the Temple Baptist Church January 1. Amen. Not because I want to, because I've been put in a position to have to deal with it. Amen. That's right. Amen. I'm not being mean or ugly. I'm trying to help somebody. Gotta fix our focus on our conqueror, thank God. Who's he talking about? And he, and it's set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hey, you gotta get your eyes on Jesus, amen. He's a conqueror, amen. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ. Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or poor or sorrow. As the shrimp for thy sake were killed all the day, long were I carrying the sheep for the slaughter. Then all these things were more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I persuaded neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor princes, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. Fixing your focus on the conqueror. He's on the throne. And as long as He, if we focus on Him with our eyes, far above this old troubled world, we can run the race. He has prescribed for us, amen. I'm saying He's able to lead us to victories in our lives. He is actually what we, listen, what I'm talking about this morning is actually a simple fix. It's a very, very simple fix. What are you looking at? Where's your concentration being put on? I'm going to tell you, I love my church. I love you dear people. I do, I love you. I'm so excited about going to Greece because you people paid for my wife to go there. I'm super excited. I'm going to walk in the steps of Paul. Looks pretty excited about that, ain't it, my mama? Well, I wouldn't hurt your feelings for nothing in the world, but that don't excite me nowhere to the point as much as being here this morning. Amen, amen. And getting to come back tonight. Amen. This is way more exciting than going on a trip to Greece. Amen. Oh, it's gonna be exciting. It's gonna be wonderful, amen. I'm glad I get to go, amen. I'm just trying to get you to see my concentration ain't necessarily on that. It's Him. He made it all possible. He's the one that's giving me my breath to even live right now. I'm not forsaking him and his house for a bunch of fun and carnality all the time. It's about him. I believe this is right. I believe everything I preached this morning. I believe it's right. Every centimeter, millimeter of my body, my bone and my flesh, I believe I'm preaching it right. Amen. Amen. What are you looking at? Where's your concentration at? Oh, we gotta fix our focus. See, it's easy for me. Oh, I do it a lot. God has to help me. I get to looking at this and get to looking at that. I'll be getting excited about that, be excited about this. If you're more excited about anything than Jesus, you ain't right with God. He ought to be your number one cause for excitement. The Lord Jesus, amen. He ought to be the number one cause for your excited spirit. Oh, I just can't wait. I can't wait to go to church. Well, I can't wait to go to Greece. I hope I get to go. But I'm glad I get to come back tonight. Woo! Well, I was just trying to put a little sign right there on that wound I created. He loves you. The old preacher loves you. We've got to fix our focus. So easy. So easy. Ever had about whenever I closed? I've done my