Transcription
Good evening, everyone. How are you doing? Let's all stand to our feet. Well, again, my name is Ruben. Just in case you're getting used to seeing me here, know that Jared loves me a lot and he's let, um, well, this evening, um, I just want to share. I don't want to talk too much, but I just want to share something just to kind of call you into worship. That way, when we're singing these songs, they just have a little more substance to them.
And, um, my wife and I, we were reading John chapter 3, 1 John chapter 3, actually. And the scripture says that God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. And as we're reading the scriptures and looking at all the different facets of it, we, we kind of see that love is sacrificial. You know, there's also some righteousness in there. Um, there's also labor, a labor of love. And my wife and I were talking, we said, "Oh, wow. These are all things that Jesus actually did, you know, his labor of love and his sacrifice on the cross."
And, um, and I'm starting to think about worship and that scripture I just shared with you. And God is love, and he who abides in love. How do you abide in love? Right? And we kind of came to the conclusion that if you have the gospel message, his sacrifice, the sacrifice that he made for us, his labor of love, his, his righteousness, and who he is, and you have that always before your mind and in your heart, and you come to worship, you're abiding in love. And he who abides in love abides in God, and God's abiding. So, just to think that as we're singing songs about the cross, that we're abiding in his love. As we're singing, "Isn't He Worthy?" We're going to sing that song. It's like, "Lord, You are worthy. We're abiding in His love."
So, I just want to just bring that, uh, bring that to our senses and, uh, let me pray and, uh, we'll, we'll begin worship. Heavenly Father, we come before You this evening and we're so thankful, Lord, that You have called us here to this place. And maybe there are some here that, Lord, really haven't given their life fully and devoted to You. Lord, we pray that tonight is the night, Lord, that You call them to Yourself. But for the rest of us, Lord, we want to abide in Your love because, Lord, when we're abiding in Your love, we know that You, without a doubt, are abiding in our hearts. And Lord, Your presence is what we desire most. And so, Lord, when we ask the question, "Aren't You worthy? Isn't He worthy?" Yes, You are, Lord. And we come and we worship You this evening. We love You. We praise You in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's sing and clap along with us.
I was lost. And I was lost. And He found me. I was sick. He healed me. I was dead and He raised me up again. Amen. I was bound and He freed me. Now I stand in this victory. I was desperate and He saved me from my sin. Yes, He did. Let's sing together. Isn't He good? Isn't He great? Isn't He faithful? Look at my life. Look what He's done. Isn't He able? Isn't He good? Isn't He great? Isn't He worthy? Oh, He's worthy. He's worthy, isn't He? Yes. Mighty God, Jehovah, Holy One, Messiah, all the glory to our resurrected King. Come on, let's sing it together.
Isn't He? Isn't He good? Isn't He great? Isn't He faithful? Look at my life. Look what He's done. Isn't He able? Isn't He good? Isn't He great? Isn't He worthy? Oh, He's worthy. He's worthy, isn't He? Isn't He good? Isn't He great? Isn't He faithful? Look at my life. Look what He's done. Isn't He able? Isn't He good? Isn't He great? Isn't He worthy? Wo! He's worthy. He's worthy, isn't He? Let's sing.
Isn't He worthy? Isn't He worthy? Isn't He? Isn't He worthy? Isn't He worthy? Isn't He? Isn't He worthy? Yes, He is. Our God is worthy. Isn't He worthy? Isn't He? Isn't He worthy? Isn't He worthy? Isn't He? Isn't He worthy? Yes, He is. Our God is worthy. One more time. Come on. Isn't He worthy? Isn't He? Isn't He worthy? Isn't He worthy? Isn't He? Isn't He worthy? Yes, He is. Our God is worthy. Come on, sing it with all your heart.
Isn't He good? Isn't He great? Isn't He faithful? Look at my life. Look what He's done. Isn't He able? Isn't He good? Isn't He great? Isn't He worthy? Oh, He's worthy. He's worthy, isn't He? Sing it again. Come on. Isn't He good? Isn't He great? Isn't He faithful? Look at my life. Look what He's done. Isn't He able? Wo. He's worthy. He's worthy, isn't He? Wo. Isn't He worthy? Yes, You are. Isn't He worthy? Amen. Amen. He's so worthy.
You were the Word at the beginning, one with God, the Lord most high. The hidden glories in creation now revealed in You are Christ. What a beautiful name it is. What a beautiful name it is. The name of Jesus Christ, my King. What a beautiful name it is. Nothing can stand. What a beautiful name it is. The name of Jesus. You didn't want heaven without us. So Jesus, You brought heaven down. My sin was great, Your love was greater. What could separate us now?
What a wonderful name it is. What a wonderful name it is. The name of Jesus Christ is my King. What a wonderful name it is. Nothing compares to this. What a wonderful name it is. The name of Jesus. What a wonderful name it is. The name of Jesus. Lord, You're wonderful. Lord, You're beautiful. Yes, You are. Death cannot hold. Death cannot hold. Could not hold You. The veil torn before You. You silenced the powers of sin and grave. The heavens are roaring the praise of Your glory. For You are raised to life again. And You have no rival. And You have no rival. You have no equal. Now and forever, God, You reign. And Yours is the kingdom. And Yours is the glory. Yours is the name above all.
What a powerful name it is. What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus Christ, my King. What a powerful name it is. Nothing can stand against. What a powerful name it is. The name of Jesus. What a powerful name it is, the name of Jesus. What a powerful name it is, the name of Jesus. Sing this again.
You have no rival. You have no equal. Now and forever. God, You reign. Yours is the kingdom. Yours is the glory. Yours is the name above all. Oh, name. One more time. You have no rival. You have no equal. Now and forever. God, You reign.
And for God, God, it's forever Your name that will always be praised till the end of the age, Lord. And even beyond that into eternity, Your people will praise and lift up Your name. Lord, we worship You now. And Lord, we know that You again are calling Your people to come into Your presence, to remove every weight that is holding us back. To remove every idol, Lord, that is in our way. Lord, You want us to do as the priests would do in the Old Testament. They would go past the outer courts, Lord. They would go before You on our altar, God, and worship You and sacrifice a lamb, Lord. And thankful, so thankful, God, that You are the lamb that was sacrificed in our place, Lord, so that we can live, Lord. We desire to draw into Your presence right now.
Take me past the outer courts and through the holy place, past the praise and altar. Lord, I want to see Your face. Pass me by the crowds of people. The priests to sing Your praise. I hunger and thirst for Your righteousness, but it's only found one place. So take me in to the holy of holies. Take me in by the blood of the lamb. So take me into the holy of holies. Take the call. Touch my lips. Here I am.
Take me past the outer courts and through the holy place, past the bra and altar. Lord, I want to see Your face. Pass me by the crowds of people. The priests who sing their praise. I hunger and thirst for Your righteousness, but it's only found one place. Take me in to the holy of holies. Take me in by the blood of the lamb. Take me into the holy of holies. Take the call. Cleanse my lips. Here I am.
Take me into the holy of holies. Take me in by the blood of the lamb. Take me in to the holy of holies. Take the call. Cleanse my lips. Here I am. Take the call. Cleanse my lips. Here I am. Take the call. Cleanse my lips. Here I am. Sing that one more time. So take me in. Let's abide in Him. And as we sing this next song to the holy of holies.
Take me in by the blood of the lamb. Take me in to the holy of holies. Take the call. Cleanse my lips. Here I am. Take the coal. Cleanse my lips. Here I am. Lord. And we do make that our prayer, God, that as we've come into the Holy of Holies right now, 'cause Your Spirit lives within us and Your Spirit is here with us and is upon us, God, that You would even now take the coal, cleanse our lips, Lord. Cleanse our hearts, cleanse our minds. Even David himself would say, "Lord, cleanse us thoroughly, Lord, every wicked way within us, God. We love You. We bless You. We pray that this worship honored You, God, and that You were pleased by it, Lord. We love You and thank You in Jesus' name we pray." Amen. Amen. Church, you may be seated. And, uh, Amen. Let's take a look at the announcements.
Welcome to Calvary Chapel Chino Valley. Whether you're visiting for the first time or have made this church your home, we're thankful to have you with us. Let's take a look at a few of our upcoming events.
Ladies, there's still time to get your tickets for the Caris Christmas Coffee and Dessert. The event is happening this Thursday, December 4th, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. here on our church campus. You'll enjoy custom-made sweets by Choco Bakery and Cafe and shopping from a dozen local artisans offering handcrafted Christmas-inspired items. After our festivities and fellowship, we'll head into the sanctuary for Christmas worship and an encouraging message from Lauren O'Neal from Morning Star Christian Chapel.
There's still time to support our missions team as they prepare for the annual outreach with Calvary Chapel Mexicali. You're able to partner with us by preparing regular shoe-size gift boxes that will be delivered to the neighborhood children in need. Just stop by the gazebo after service or visit the church office during business hours to pick up a shopping list and labels. Then fill your boxes with meaningful gifts and personal items. Don't forget to wrap the box and lid separately and drop off your wrapped boxes no later than Sunday, December 7th.
Each Sunday, we have tamale available for purchase after both services while supplies last. Every purchase will help offset costs for our junior high and high school ministries, including the Yucatan mission trip and 2026 youth retreats. Orders will be accepted in person at the tamale table and you can now place your Christmas pre-orders for pickup on December 21st.
Join us in the courtyard for a festive Christmas celebration next week on Wednesday, December 10th. Right after our evening service, enjoy a delightful evening filled with a special performance by our kids choir along with cookies, cocoa, and community. Remember to dress warmly as we gather for a joyous evening.
You're invited to celebrate Christmas here at Calvary Chapel Chino Valley. We look forward to this wonderful time each year as we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. We'll be hosting a beautiful time of worship, meaningful fellowship, and special teachings by Pastor David. Christmas Eve service will be held at 7:00 p.m. and our Christmas morning service will be held at 9:00 a.m. Our kids ministry will have something special planned for children from infant through 6th grade, including our special needs kiddos during both services. All are welcome, and we encourage you to bring your family and friends.
These announcements offer just a glimpse of all the activities happening here at the church. You can sign up for any of our events through the website at calvarycc.org or through the events tab on our church app. The app is also a great place to find current teachings, Pastor David's study notes, and so much more. If you haven't already, download it today from the app store by searching for Calvary Chapel Chino Valley.
To prepare our hearts and minds for today's Bible study, we ask that you please take a moment to place your smartwatch and cell phone on silent. You can also help us limit distractions by staying seated until the service is over. Thank you for joining us and have a blessed week.
Well, good evening, church family. It's good to have you here with us this evening. And those of you that are joining us online again, we're always appreciative that you, uh, are with us for the Bible study. Uh, just one additional announcement regarding the, uh, gift boxes for the Mexicali, uh, outreach. Just a reminder that, uh, if you're going to turn in any boxes, they're due this coming Sunday, December 7th. It's the last day to turn those in. And, uh, just to be mindful of using shoe-size boxes for purposes of packing and transportation. Uh, and also imagine when we give a kid a shoebox-size, uh, gift and then the next gift is like this big. Uh, it's like, we love you for your generosity and and kindness and all of that, but the practical stuff in terms of transporting and packaging and again, giving to the kids, you know, we want to give them the the same thing. Um, just be mindful of that. And again, those of you that have already turned in boxes, we appreciate it very much and know that the kids are always blessed. Always blessed. Uh, and so as we continue our time of worship of the Lord, we look at, uh, Deuteronomy chapter 14 where it says, "You shall truly tithe all the increase of your gain that the field produces year by year." And back then, the people lived in an agrarian, you know, agricultural type of society. And they were dependent on their harvest. And so what does it mean? And what does it take to first give to the Lord from your harvest? It, it showed that they trusted Him to provide for their needs and it demonstrates how much we value Him and express our faith in His ability to provide for us. And they gave with thankful hearts because they understood that everything they had was given to them by the Lord. And so this evening, there's different ways to to do that, to give through the go-pit boxes located in the foyers, on social media, our website, uh, or app, you know, there's the giving, uh, links there. And if you prefer the, uh, infamous snail mail, we're located at 12205 Pipeline Avenue in the hopeful and heartening city of Chino, 91710. Let's go ahead and pray.
Father, we just come before You this evening with thankful hearts, Father. Thankful that we can be here and get into Your word. And we pray that You would just anoint our pastor's lips as he takes us through Your scriptures, Father. And we lift up our offerings to You. And we pray that You would use them to glorify Yourself and to expand Your kingdom, Father. We love You and we praise You in Jesus' name. Amen.
This is the air I breathe. This is the air I breathe. Your holy presence living in me. This is my daily bread. This is my daily bread. Your very word spoken to me. Let's all stand together. I'm desperate for You. And I'm lost without You. This is the air. I want to sing it to Jesus this evening. Let's abide in Him.
This is the air I breathe. Your holy presence living in me. This is my daily prayer. This is my daily bread. Your very word spoken to me. And I, I'm desperate for You. Oh, we are. And I, I'm lost without You. We're so lost. And I, I'm desperate for You, oh Father. And I, I'm lost without You. I'm lost without You. I'm lost without You. One more time with all your heart. I'm lost without You.
And Father, as we have gathered here, Lord, we offer unto You our worship. And I ask that You would receive it. And as we look at this passage before us, that You would give us insight, provoke us, Lord, convict us, instruct us, draw us, whatever is needed. I ask that that would happen. May Your Holy Spirit have freedom to work within us. May we be open and may we be obedient to that which the Spirit speaks to us through His word. And so, Lord, we lift ourselves to You now. We ask that You would speak to us. We lift up those watching online, those outside, and we who are in this room. And Father, just speak to us now in Jesus' name. Amen.
Turn to your neighbor and say, "God bless you. I'm glad you're here." I know. Let's open our, uh, our New Testament, our Bibles to First Corinthians. We're in chapter nine tonight. 1 Corinthians chapter nine. We're going to be looking at the first 14 verses. It's a passage that relates to, some of you have already read this. It, it relates to financial support. And so after I teach, I'll be receiving a huge offering for me. I'll begin reading to you at verse one here in chapter nine. And, uh, I'll read to verse six and we'll get into our study.
1 Corinthians chapter 9, beginning at verse one, reading to verse 6. Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? If I'm not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. My defense to those who examine me is this. Do we have no right to eat and drink? Do we have no right to take along a believing wife as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working?
And so we've been going through 2 Corinthians. And I'll use a little bit of what we've been looking at in 2 Corinthians to lay the foundation for what we see here in this passage. We know that early in the, uh, the life of the church of Corinth that false teachers, false apostles, which are identified for us in 2 Corinthians very graphically, we know that they have been infiltrating and that they have been bringing false doctrine into the church. They've been attacking Paul. We know that as we go through Second Corinthians that these are actual people who are identified. They are greedy Jewish pseudo-intellectuals and they were claiming superiority over Paul. The last, uh, study we had on Sunday, I mentioned to you that they're actually referred to as super-apostles. In different translations, they refer to as the eminent ones, but it literally speaks of them being super and abundantly above, uh, the Apostle Paul in authority and capability and all. And so they're, they're Jewish intellectuals, pseudo-intellectuals who are actually posing themselves against the Apostle Paul, claiming superiority over him. And so when you go through Second Corinthians, Paul addresses their accusations. And one of the things that they actually bring up in Second Corinthians which gives to us a foundation for this passage in First is they, they speak to him, speak of him concerning his way of ministry. We saw in 2 Corinthians 2:17 how Paul said, "We are not as so many peddling the word of God, but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ." They had been accusing him of changing the gospel of Jesus Christ for personal profit. They were saying that Paul was making money off of the ministry.
Now, as you go through Second Corinthians, it gives us insight once again into what's taking place in First Corinthians. We see that one of the sins of these super-apostles, these eminent ones, was arrogance. They were arrogant people. It, it reminded me of, uh, Psalm 94:4 where it speaks in this way. It says, "They pour out arrogant words. All the evildoers boast." And so that's what they were doing. They were making accusations. And so one of the things that he has to deal with and he actually addresses it here is, uh, compensation. They're inferring and actually come out and say so that he's not worth compensation and yet he's going to give a defense concerning that and what his manner amongst them has been as we will see in just a moment. But they're inferring that he's being compensated and that he should not be. He's not worthy of it. And so he'll remind them, uh, that he doesn't receive compensation in 2 Corinthians when he says in 2 Corinthians 11:7, "Was it a sin for me to humble myself in order to exalt you because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge?" And so he answers that in Second Corinthians, but he's already going to begin doing so here in First Corinthians.
Now, I've mentioned to you that in his ministry to the Corinthians, he had to deal with many accusations. And so, he explains here his right, should he have chosen to, he explains his right to be financially compensated. Now, again, he could be, he has a biblical right for support, and he's going to point out why biblically he could be compensated. And he begins with four questions. We'll look at those four questions in order in just a moment. The reason he begins with questions is it validates his right to support, his support for ministry. And, uh, these are questions that he actually asks, for example, in verse 9, uh, verse one, chapter 9. "Am I not an apostle?" He begins with these questions because these are questions he actually answers more than once in his, in his writing. So we'll begin with those four questions. I'll look at them and develop a foundation and move on.
So the first one he answers in verse one is, "Am I not an apostle?" The obvious answer is yes, you are an apostle. In 1 Timothy 2:7, he said to to Timothy, "For this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle. I am telling the truth. I'm not lying. And a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles." So in other places he tells us he's an apostle. So he asks the question here of the Corinthians. "Am I not an apostle?" The answer obviously is yes, you are.
Second question he asks is, "Am I not free?" In other words, I have liberty. I'm not bound by the law. I'm free in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "You will know the truth and the truth will make you free." So, I'm free in Jesus Christ. To the Romans, in chapter 8, verses 1 and 2, he said it like this. He said, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death." "Am I not free?" Yes, you are free. You're not bound by the law. You're free in Jesus Christ. That's why to the Galatians, in chapter 5:1, he said, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." So the second question, "Am I not free?" The answer is supplied, yes, you are.
The third is actually questioning his apostolic credentials. Now, again, remember in 2 Corinthians chapter 3, he has to answer the question of his, uh, not having letters of recommendation. Again, his apostolic credentials was ongoing for a short period of time. And so he asks the question, "Have I not seen Jesus?" To see Jesus is to prove his credentials. You see, one of the requirements for being an apostle was seeing the Lord. You see that in Acts 1:21-22 where it says, "Therefore, it's necessary to choose one of the men who've been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John's baptism, the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection." So, "Have I not seen Jesus?" The answer to that, once again, is yes, I have. The qualification for apostolic office was to have seen the risen Christ. Well, in Acts chapter 9, verse, uh, verses 4 and 5, when he was on the road to Damascus and when Jesus came and and called him to ministry, it says that Paul fell to the ground, he heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting," He replied. "And it's hard for you to kick against the prods." "Have I not seen Jesus?" And the answer to that is yes.
And then he goes on in verse two and he says a fourth question. "Are you not my work in the Lord?" Are you not the fruit of my labor which is the seal of my apostleship? Are you not obvious evidence that God has used me? Just the fact that a church exists. Again, I mentioned 2 Corinthians. Let me remind you in chapter 3, verses 1-3, how he said, "Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you?" He went on to say, "You yourselves are our letter written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ. The result of our ministry written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God. Not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts." You are the fruit of my labor. Before I came to Corinth, there was no church. After I came to Corinth and remained for 18 months, I laid the word of God upon you. You received Christ and a body of Christ was brought into existence. And that existence of the church evidences a calling as well as his right to compensation. They existed as believers because Paul had planted the church. Again, I, I, I say this scripture, 1 Corinthians 4:15, often. Just, it's a, it's one of the scriptures that the Lord has placed on my heart as it refers to ministry. "Though you have 10,000 instructors in Christ, you have not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, I have begotten you through the gospel." You may have 10,000 people who come and and build on the foundation that I laid. Your salvation, Paul was saying, is a result of me bringing the gospel to you. And over time, you'll have many people who will add to that. There are apostolic writings. There are great teachers and preachers. They're going to add to that. You're going to grow as a result of the anointed ones who come and bring the truth of the gospel to you and teach you the things that relate to living for Christ. But never forget how you got saved. Never forget that. Never forget how you got saved. Because you may like the eloquence. You might like the personality. You might like the energy and you might like the vision. You might like all the things about somebody else. And that's a good thing because if that helps you to grow, there's nothing wrong with that. But never forget how you got saved. I'm your father. He's saying, "I brought you to faith in Jesus Christ." And like a father loves his virgin daughter and wants her to be married to the right guy. So I love you, Paul will say. And I want you to grow and to be right in the things of God. Remember who brought you to faith. I am your father in the faith. I'm the one who planted the church. And as such, Paul could argue, I'm worthy of compensation. In 2 Timothy 2:6, it simply says, "The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops." I have a right to receive from you.
Verse two, second portion of it, he says, "You are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord." In other words, you're the proof of my ministry. One writer says, "In ancient times, seals were used on containers of merchandise, on letters, and on other things to indicate the authenticity of what was inside, and to prevent the contents from being substituted or altered. The seal was the official representation of the authority of the one who sent the merchandise or letter. What was under the seal was guaranteed to be genuine." And that's why he's saying, "You are the seal of my apostleship." That's the guarantee of its genuineness. And so as he's going through this, and again, he says in verse two, "If I'm not an apostle to others, he doubtless I am to you. You are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord." He now responds to the critics. He now responds to those infiltrators who are undermining his ministry. "My defense to those who examine me is this. Do we have no right to eat and drink? Do we have no right to take along a believing wife as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working?"
So he begins now to respond. He says, "This is my defense to those who examine me." When he uses the words defense and examine, it's a picture of being in court and this is my, uh, way of dealing with your attacks, this is a proof of my innocence. Now, we know that any, uh, any work that God blesses, we know that that work is going to be attacked. You know, the enemy doesn't attack the lukewarm Christian. He's already got them. And he doesn't attack, uh, churches that don't preach the gospel. He's already influencing them. Who's he going to attack? He's going to attack an enemy. Who's his enemy? The ones who are open with their faith, the ones who proclaim the gospel, the ones who are doing the work of ministry. That's who he comes after. He's not going to attack a dead body. He's going to go after a living one. And so he's right now speaking concerning the fact that there's an attack that's taking place that he has to respond to because Satan always works overtime to destroy effective works. And normally, and you might want to remember this, normally he attacks the shepherd first. He comes after the shepherd because according to Matthew 26:31, Jesus said, "All of you will be made to stumble because of me this night. For it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered." So, who do you think the enemy comes after? A lukewarm believer who on a Sunday morning says, "I stayed up late last night. I don't feel like going to church." Or the pastor who stayed up all night praying or whatever he does before he comes in, who do you think's going to get attacked? It's not going to be the lukewarm one. It's going to be the one who's on fire for Christ. It can be true for you also. You don't have to be the pastor to be attacked. Obviously, you're when you're on fire for Christ, when you're telling people about Jesus, you will be attacked. You're go, he's going to come after you. And that's what's taking place. But he normally goes after the leader. He normally goes after the one, the shepherd who's feeding the sheep. And so what he's doing is being attacked. And these people are attacking Paul.
So he begins to ask questions in verse four. "Do we have no right to eat and drink?" So what is he doing? He's defending what we would refer to in our, in our the way we talk in the 21st century, what we would call ministerial rights. He's saying, should I be denied food and drink, the essentials for life? You see, this is the right of any minister of the, of God who is faithfully ministering to God's people. In Galatians 6:6, it makes it clear that that the one who is teaching the word of God is to be cared for. "Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor." That's the truth. That's what scripture says. Let those who are taught by teachers, well, those who are being taught, let them sustain those who are instructing them. Why would that be so? Because it sets the minister free to spend more time in ministry. That's very obvious. It, it gives them more time. When our, our fellowship first began, you know, we, you know, I, I'll tell you a brief story. It won't take that long. Um, if it helps get money out of you, I'll make it longer. No, I'm just teasing. Someone's going to believe that I'm serious. I'm not. But it, it comes to mind. Um, our, our first Sunday morning that we had in July, July 26, 1981, we came, I gave a Bible study, Isaiah 43:18 and 19. God is going to do a new thing. And, uh, we closed the study and in prayer and I still remember how I closed it. I, we prayed and I said, "Well, guys, if you want to come back next week, I plan on being here." See, I wasn't planting a church. That's the interesting thing about the origin of our church here. I wasn't planting a church. What I was doing is ministering to anybody who wanted to come until I found a church to go to. That's how this church began. I had been an assistant pastor. I resigned my position. I was asked, "What are you going to do on Sunday? You're not going to be in church." And I said, "I'm looking for a church." So my sister-in-law Patty said, "Can, can you come and teach me?" And I said, "Yes." So for one person, this church began. It was for Patty. And my mom and my dad and others showed up. And so we had our first Sunday. We had about 20, 25 people. We had about five or six kids, less than 10. At the end of the study, I said, um, you know, we'll be here next week if you want to come. Because I didn't know what church to go to. We'll be here. And my dad said to me, "David, we know that you love us and we know that that that you want to teach us. Um, but let me ask you," he said this. He said, "You have a family." I had three children at that time. We had a fourth a couple years later. He said, "Um, you didn't receive an offering." And I said, "No, no, I'm not going to." He said, "Why not?" I said, "Well, because this isn't even, I don't consider this, I'm not planning a church." So, why would I receive an offer? And then second, I said, "We're, we're not a tax-deductible tax-deductible organization. Any gifts you gave are not deductible. Why would I take your money and not give you a benefit that that we have as as American citizens?" And my dad said, "But what if we want to help you?" And I said, "Well," and there was a macra holding a pot next to the fireplace. And I said, "Anybody who wants to give anything, put it, put your whatever in that in that pot." I said, "But if it's going to be for Marie and me and the kids, it needs to be mentioned for for David and Marie because if it's not, anything that comes in, I'm going to use for incorporation. So I can take whatever funds come in and incorporate so that you can have the right to a deduction." That's how it worked. That's how our first offering was. We received, I think, an offering of $360. A hundred of those dollars came towards Marie and me. My bills at that at that time were $1,500 a month. Wouldn't it be beautiful for that to be true today? Huh? $1,500 a month. That was before tithe and taxes. That's how it started. I did not ask for offerings. As a matter of fact, when we purchased this property here, we still didn't receive offerings. What we had were go-pit boxes. And we were able to for 10 years, we were able to go without receiving offerings. People would put it in the go-pit box. Every, every dime that came went towards the ministry. I was able to purchase properties, including this one here, hire staff members, do ministry because the people were generous, because the people were being taught. And when you're taught, you respond. And that's what Paul's going to give to us in just a moment. That's how this, that's the history of this church. And people say, "Well, you receive an offering now. How did that happen?" It happened because I had a conversation with two, two people. One was my, one member of my board. His name is Gary. Gary said, "David, we were 10 years into ministry." And he said, "David, it's time for you to receive an offering." And I said, "Gary, I'm not going to. God has supplied every need I have. If I start receiving offerings now, it'll give an appearance that I don't trust Him." And I do. So that's one. And so I said, "So no, he was my board member, one of them." And then Ral Ree and I went to India together and did some ministry. We were in southern India and in the middle of the night. He had gone to bed and actually, he was laying on the floor because that's what Ral does. He was laying on the floor getting bitten by cockroaches as I, not they were bugs, 'cause he kept on yelling, "What's that? What's that?" I'll never forget that. And out of nowhere, and Ral is not on my board. He's a friend, but not on my board. And out of nowhere he says, "David." And I said, "What?" He doesn't call me David by the way. He calls me David. "David, David, what?" "Ral, you need to receive an offering." Ral knew nothing about our ministry. I never talked to him about that. So I took that as a witness of two and I began to pray about it and I began to see in India, we were in India, I began to see that Coca-Cola, Levi, all, all of the products that Americans buy were being sold to these very poor Indian folk. And I started thinking to myself, the world is is taking money from those who have little. Why am I not, why am I stealing blessings for my church? Because believe this or not, and this isn't, this is not, I'm not going to receive an offering or anything special. Just trust me in this. I'm not. I'm just telling you the truth of the story as the Lord led me in this. The Lord convicted me and said, "Do you not believe I bless the generous heart?" And I said, "I, I do. Your scripture teaches us that." Then why are you stealing blessings from my people? In what way? You're not receiving offerings. You're not giving them opportunity to be blessed because you're not giving them opportunity to give. There's nothing wrong with receiving compensation. There's nothing wrong with teaching people that the Lord does bless a generous heart. That's how we began to receive offerings here. That was 10 years into our ministry. So when Paul's asking questions, "Do I not have a right?" The answer was yes, he does. He does have a right because, and I'll show you this, because anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor. Let those who are taught by the teacher sustain those who instruct them. That sets them free. So I ultimately received enough of an offering support. So, I stopped working and was able to to work full-time here. You might find this interesting, too. Again, I'm not tooting my own horn or anything like that. I'm just telling you the facts of how things began. I didn't receive full compensation for a number of years. I actually used the offerings that were coming in to hire staff members who I gave full compensation to so they could be of help. My wife Marie worked as a substitute teacher in the Chino Unified School District until after the birth of my daughter Anna, which was over two years into the history of this church. Marie used to teach Spanish at Chino High School. And I thought that was hilarious. And so did she at that time because she doesn't speak Spanish. And neither did her students at the end of the school year. We thought the Lord had a wonderful sense of humor in putting my girl there because of her last name. She had a a helper, as I recall, who was fluent in Spanish. And, uh, that's how that worked. We received $900 a month from Chino Unified School District, which enabled us to pay my house payments, and I got a few hundred dollars a month to keep us, uh, floating. That's how that worked. And so, yeah, it sets you free. So, when I was able to go on full-time and and not have to have part-time here or do that there, it was a blessing. And, and that's the way it's supposed to be. In Acts chapter 6:4, it says that the, the apostles devoted themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. They had said, "It is not right for us to to to leave the ministry of the word in prayer and to wait on tables. We need people appointed from amongst yourselves to take care of the these things so we can have time in God's word." And so he asks the question, "Do we have no right to eat and drink?" And, and the answer to that is yes, you do.
He goes on in verse 5, "Do we have no right to take along a believing wife as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?" And so this is the second question. Don't I have the right to marry if I desired? And if I'm married, do I not have the right for her to minister alongside of me wherever I go? Now, obviously, Paul never thought of marriage for a Christian in any other terms outside of marriage with a believer. And he's saying we ought to be able to be free to take care of our wife, which is what we do. And so, "Do I have no right to take along a believing wife?" The other apostles do. And, uh, it reveals here, by the way, when he speaks in this way, "as do the other apostles," that he, he, he's speaking of the unnamed apostles who had taken wives on ministry journeys. But he also speaks of the Lord's brothers, James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. He speaks of their brothers, right? The brothers of the Lord. You see their names mentioned in Matthew 13:55, by the way. And he mentions also Cephas. We know Cephas by the name Simon, or obviously Peter. And Peter is being mentioned as a married man. In, in Mark 1:30 and 31, it speaks of Simon's mother-in-law. And it says that she was in bed with a fever. They, they told Jesus about her. He went to her, took her, uh, took her hand, helped her up. The fever left her. She began to wait on them. And so the Bible teaches us that that that Cephas was married even when he was first beginning to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. That Jesus actually healed his mother-in-law, which gave him fuel to deny the Lord later on for doing something like that. No, I'm just kidding. That'll take you a moment. That's why he denied the Lord. Jesus healed his mother-in-law. But anyway, um, I like that joke. So what do you do? You compensate the pastor enough to support a family. The wife should be free to support the husband and to raise the children. That includes her traveling with her husband in ministry. When he speaks in the way that he does concerning this, "Do we have no right to take along?" I want you to see those words, "take along." It simply means to carry about in your company. And so that means to take her with you, to bring her alongside of you. So support and companionship are important. Why is that? Because on the road there are many temptations and many opportunities to sin. I've been on many ministry trips and I can tell you that there are many opportunities that are presented to you when you're in a foreign country and nobody knows who you are. I can tell you, and I've had, I never travel alone. I never travel alone. I always have a staff member with me. I always have a staff member or my wife. I never travel. I don't even go on local things by myself. I go with guys, one of the guys. Uh, I'll take Marie when I can. I don't travel by myself. There are many obstacles and opportunities that are placed before you when you think that there's nobody around. We're in the Philippines and I'm walking with one of my, uh, staff assistants. We're just walking. Here comes a man. He starts to show us pictures and he says, "Would you like one of these?" He's showing us women, prostitutes. And I said, "Uh, I don't, but he would." No. I said, "No, no, thank you." I said, "Listen, we're Christians. We don't do that." And he says to me, "I'm a Christian, too. Would you like one of these?" I'm serious. I'm not kidding. I'm a Christian, too. We were in Thailand after that tsunami hit, and we went into, uh, into Thailand. We were
In Bangkok, and we were getting off the of the the cab to go into the hotel, and there was a man in the front with all these pictures of not just women, but little boys, and they were offering us little boys as well. As some of you have been to Thailand, you know what goes on there. So, you, you have opportunities when you think you're by yourself. You can go into the room and you've got all this free porn, or it doesn't cost that much, or they have all the alcohol you want inside of those little refrigerators should you have a room with it. You have so many opportunities, and so I'm well aware of that. I'm not tempted by it. Thank you, Jesus. I'm not. But I'm aware of those things, and I don't take chances because my flesh is strong. I just don't want to give myself any opportunity to the flesh. Scripture teaches me not to, and I don't.
Paul is just speaking about the wisdom of having a companion. And he's saying, "Is it wrong for me if I were married?" But how about Cephas? Is it wrong to take a wife with you on a ministry trip? The, the, the apostles and the brothers of the Lord does, Cephas does. Or is it only verse six, is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working? Again, here's the heart. They're attacking Paul specifically. Now, remember, you know the name Barnabas. He's a friend and co-minister with the Apostle Paul. And what he's saying is, listen, are we the only ones who are supposed to pay our own way?
Now, he begins to ask questions. Verse seven, "Whoever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and doesn't eat of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and doesn't drink of the milk of the flock?" So, he begins to ask a series of questions, three basic illustrations that show that laborers are paid. He speaks of the, the soldiers. When I went into the military, I didn't, I didn't supply my own food. I didn't supply my own military gear or anything like that. I didn't pay for the lodging, you know, in the barracks and whatever. That was all supplied to me. So, he's saying soldiers are provided these things. Farmers, farmers don't go out and farm for free, and others do work for them. Shepherds will at least get some of the milk. The point he's making is obvious. He says, "If you're laboring, you partake of the things that you labor in." So, who goes to war? Who plants a vineyard? Who tends a flock?
Verse eight, "Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same thing? It's written in the law of Moses, 'You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.'" Is it oxen God is concerned about, or does he say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt. This is written that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. Is this, uh, just selfish human judgment? No. Why? Well, because God's word commands it. In Deuteronomy 25:4, it speaks of how God cares for animals, but it's the humans that are most valuable.
Now, remember in 1 Timothy 5:17 and 18, the Apostle Paul was speaking in the same way to a young pastor by the name of Timothy. And this is how he was instructing him. 1 Timothy 5:17 and 18. He said, "The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For the scripture says, 'Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,' and 'the worker deserves his wages.'" Ministers who rule well are to be compensated generously, is what Paul is saying. I remember hearing a man, a board member, saying concerning somebody, "If you keep the preacher poor, you keep the preacher humble." That's not biblical, and that's not the way it ought to be. Ministers who rule well. Well, he speaks of ruling well. And the ruling well or serving and doing the things he does well is going to be evidenced by God's blessing on the church. And so, how do we know that somebody is ruling well? Because Paul had just said, "The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor." So, he's speaking of those who are ruling well. So, how do you know that that's taking place? For those who take notes and may want to think of it, it's evidenced by two things. Ruling well is evidenced by their preaching. One is the content. It's the content of the preaching. Is it true to scripture? And is it thorough? You can go to a Bible study and you can hear the guy read a verse and then talk for 40 minutes about nothing about that verse. You can do that. I, I've been there. I've seen that. I, I've sat under other ministers. And not to, not to, to down them in any way. I, other than to say they should have studied. I have sat there. I remember, I'll give you one example. A friend of mine who used to go to this fellowship years ago said, "We, they moved to another city and and they said, 'Can you come and and let me know what you think about the church that I'm going to?'" He asked me to. And I said, "Of course." You know. So Marie and I took a, a Sunday off. We were going to take one, and I went to that church and I sat there and I listened to him teach. And at the end, I, I noted everything about it. I noted that the pastor was in the worship team, then the pastor gave the bulletin, then the pastor gave the teaching, then the pastor. It was all about the pastor. But I especially listened to his message. And as I listened to it, I thought about it for a while. My friend came up, said, "Well, what do you think?" And I said, "Well, what I think is he didn't study." That's what I think. "What do you mean?" I said, "What he did is he gave examples of what he does, and I could tell you what he taught on." Um, I said, "He didn't study the passage. I could tell he didn't spend any time." I said, "This is a one-man show." Now, if you want to go to a church that has a superstar, stay here. If you want a church that teaches, find one that divides the word properly because he's not doing that. Because that's easy today. Some of the, some of the best known people, if I started rattling off names, you'd recognize the names, are people who don't even, they're not even given a Bible study. They just talk for 30 minutes, 35 minutes. That's what they do. And the people love it. They love it that way.
Well, one of the ways you know if somebody's ruling well is, is the teaching true to scripture and is it thorough? And the second is, what is the impact? Are people being saved? Are people maturing in their faith? And so someone who's ruling well has content and impact. And so he says, "The one who has this is worthy, notice, of double honor." Now, when he says double honor, he's speaking of monetary honor. The, the word honor is honorarium. We know the honorarium. We know those, that word. It, it speaks of compensation. And so he's saying, "Compensate generously those who rule well, who are working tirelessly," because he speaks of laboring. The word labor there, laboring to the point of exhaustion in the word to feed God's people. People who aren't taking time off every three weeks and bringing somebody else in so they can have a weekend off. And so this provides the appropriate environment to work with the fewest distractions. It sets him free when you compensate him from material concerns that he can focus on his ministry.
So he goes on and he says, uh, verse 10, "Does he say it altogether for our sakes? Is for our sakes? No doubt this is written that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope." If we've sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? That's an interesting question. Here's the question in another form. If you're growing and benefiting, should you not support? So, spiritual food and spiritual service is to be valued and supported. There are those who don't support ministry. They don't see a benefit in it. Their faith isn't maturing. Their gratitude is limited. It doesn't matter to them. If that church closed down, they'll find another one next week. It doesn't matter. They're not invested in it. Doesn't matter to them. They give little or nothing. And because it doesn't matter. So, one of the things that you might want to, to always remember is your giving to the Lord is an evidence of your love for him and a recognition of what he has done for you. It's a recognition of who he is.
Do you remember the generosity of the sister, uh, of Martha? Her name was Mary. She had a brother named Lazarus. Mary had Martha, her older sister, and her brother Lazarus. You remember that? Um, in the home of her sister Martha, Mary is the one who had anointed the feet of Jesus Christ. And when you read the scripture, it speaks concerning how she had taken a pound of spikenard. She had anointed Jesus's feet, wiping his feet with her hair. And the value of this fragrant oil was estimated at 300 days' labor. Who estimated that, by the way? Do you remember? It was Judas. Why was this fragrant oil? He said, "Why was it wasted?" So, worshiping Christ is a waste for some people. And the second thing we see about, he said, "This could have been sold for 300 dinari and could have been given to the poor." And yet John gives us a little footnote here. He says, "This," he said, "because he was the treasurer and he used to steal what was in the money bag." So he was one of those people who figured it out and said, "I just lost 300 days' wages." A dinari during the time of Christ was a day's wage. So let me give you something. According to USA Facts, the average in the US daily, the average is $250 a day. Just to give you an average. According to Calendar Canada, the average farm worker during Jesus's day worked 296 days a year, and they worked eight hours a day. That would make the, the ointment that Judas was so upset about, you know why he was so upset? In today's dollars, that would have made it worth $74,000. So when he saw these 300 days' wages going, he could have had $74,000, and it was wasted on worshiping Jesus. That's how he thought.
Here's the question. Why? Why did Mary anoint the feet of Jesus? Why did she anoint him the way that she did? Very simply, because she loved him. Generosity towards the Lord is one of the demonstrations that you actually love the Lord. It's that simple. It's that simple. One of the ways that you can see your faith and your trust in the Lord, again, I'm not, I'm not trying to get you to give. Give if you want, give if you don't. It's up to you. Between you and the Lord. I'm just being real with you when I say it this way. It's the way you measure. It's one of the measurements.
When my kids were small babies, I, I would give them, uh, they were, they were like five or six years old. They weren't, they weren't toddlers. They had enough understanding of what a, a dollar could get them. And I would give them an allowance from the time they were five, six years old. And it would be 10 dimes. And I had a baby jar, baby food jar, because we had Anna, and we had a baby food jar, and I'd put 10 dimes in, and I would put it in front of them every week, and they got their little allowance. So they, they didn't do anything. They were lazy. But I had them mowing the lawn. But I would, I would put the dimes in front of them and I would say, "These dimes are yours." And I said, "We need to give the Lord. I wanted to teach him to be generous. I said, we give to the Lord something. Give to the Lord what you would desire. I said, a basic way would be, you have 10 dimes, give them one of the dimes." And I was just teaching them basic principles. And when they were small, they would say, "That's not enough, Daddy." I said, "Really?" "Well, you give them what you want." And they would always get more than just the dime. They'd put so many. And they learned very early that the one who was giving them the dimes had more dimes. That was me. But they also learned to trust the father who will supply all their need. As they got older, and I'm talking a few years older, I still remember when they said, "You know, we're putting a lot of dimes in there, Dad. Maybe we can keep more of them for ourselves." And they became little greedy cheap stakes towards Jesus. They began to see how much money that they actually were giving of their allowance. And so what would we do? Well, I, I really wanted to teach them generosity reveals faith and love for Christ, the way that Mary showed such generosity to her master whom she loved so deeply.
So he goes on and he says in verse 12, "If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more? Nevertheless, we have not used this right, but endure all things, lest we hinder the gospel of Christ." Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? Even so, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel. And so, I want you to notice this, and we'll close now. We're about through with this portion. When he says in verse 12, "If others are partakers of this right," he's saying this is not a unique concept to you. Others are benefiting already from your finances. You support people. You even support other ministries. You pay for every service that you receive in the society you live in. If you bring it up to our day, in our day, you tip service. I hope you do. You pay for entertainment, and you pay very high taxes, don't you? And paying taxes is what we do, especially here in California. And paying taxes is seen as fulfilling our civic duties. That's part of our normal way of life. Jesus taught us in Matthew 22:21 that we render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's. And so, according to Romans 13:6 and 7, Paul said, "Because of this, you also pay taxes." Speaking of government, for they are God's ministers, attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor." And so that's something you're aware of. In other words, you live in a society that demands taxes from you, and you pay for services. So this isn't a brand new thing for you. You do it all the time. You give it all the time.
He said, "So if others are partakers of this right over you, here's, here's the catch. Are we not even more? But we're not asking for your support. We're not asking." Notice verse 12. "Nevertheless, we have not used this right. But we endure all things, lest we hinder the gospel of Christ." And we'll look at that more deeply as we go through the chapter. But he's saying, "We endure. We bear with the things we go through. We bear with those things silently. I don't want you to think I'm trying to get rich off of the gospel. And I certainly don't want you," he's saying, "to think I'm getting rich off of you." The simple truth is, those who proclaim the gospel are to be supported as they're preaching the gospel. And that's why in verse 13, "Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple?" God has set up a support system for the nation of Israel. He's, he's causing them to remember how the priests were supported. In Deuteronomy 18:1, it says that the priests who are Levites, indeed, the whole tribe of Levi are to have no allotment or inheritance with Israel. They shall live on the offerings made to the Lord by fire. That is their inheritance. So they were supported. He's saying you need to look at the system of how God took care of those who minister. So the right to receive offerings to live under the compensation of others is biblical from the Old and the New Testament. It's a right that they have. And the principle that he's giving is, those who serve the Lord are supported by those who are being served.
Even so, verse 14, "The Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel." And so I'll close with a couple of thoughts. Paul is being called into question. People are saying that he has taken advantage, but that's not true. You're going to see next time we're together that Paul doesn't receive anything from the Corinthians. He's receiving nothing from them. And that made his conscience clear before them. So he can say to them, "I haven't taken anything from you. I'm not asking for special privileges from you. Those who are accusing me of going out and and getting rich off of you are simply not telling the truth because I have preached the gospel to you for free." There were other churches that supported Paul, but Paul didn't receive compensation from the Corinthians. And we'll be looking at that closer next time we get together. And we'll see that even more further in 2 Corinthians. But we'll close here.
How, Lord, we just thank you. Lord, we thank you for our time in the word. And Lord, I would ask that we as believers would not only hear these things, but learn from them. I pray that we would, that we would just love you, Lord, and that we would be aware of the generosity you have shown towards us, the goodness that you have shown us over the years, the way that you have provided every need that we have. Lord, we're thankful for that. We're thankful for you caring for us in the way you do. And as one of the evidences of our thankfulness, we give back to you. And the money we give back to you is used to support and help others. And the ministry continues. And Paul is making a case for that. And Lord, we would learn from that. I would, I would pray that we would continue to value the things that you do in our lives and that, Lord, we'd be generous towards you. And may this church awaken to that, Lord. May we believers, maybe we all awaken to that. The Lord, you supply all our need according to your riches in Jesus, and we're thankful for that. May we love you even like Mary loved you. She was willing to give something very precious because you were more important than what she had. Help us to learn from that. Lord, I just lift this to you now. And I thank you. And even as our eyes are closed, our heads are bowed, there may be some right now who need to get right with the Lord. And as your eyes are closed, your heads are bowed, whether you, you just need to get right with God, or or whether you need to come back to him, whatever the case, if you need prayer, would you raise your hand and let me pray for you right where you're at? Just raise your hand.
Father, we see these hands, and you know the hearts. You know what's going on within them. We simply pray for them, Lord. And I pray that as they lift their hearts to you now, as they lift their hands, that that you would just invade them by your spirit, Lord, that you would wash them, cleanse them, Lord, you would provoke them that they might live for you from this moment on. And Lord, I ask that they would walk out of this room fully satisfied that you heard their prayer. And may their lives take a different turn. Even as they drive out and go home or where they're going, be with them, I pray, and continue to reveal yourself, Lord. And Lord, we just bless and thank you for this. Thank you, Lord. You can put your hands down.
There may be some right now who are, are, are not feeling well and would like to pray that God might touch you or heal you. And so, if, if you would like prayer for that, would you raise your hand? Let me pray for you.
Father, we lift up these whose hands are raised. And I just ask, Lord, in Jesus' name, that you would, uh, you would touch them, that you would bring healing, Lord, whatever it may be. There's nothing too hard for you. You can do it all. So we just lift these needs to you now. And I pray that you would reach down, you would touch, Lord, by faith, we, we would receive. And thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. And we bless you. You can put your hands down.
And Jesus, as we're about to leave, I pray that you'll receive this last song of worship, and that may we may walk with you every day. In your name we pray. Amen. Amen. Let's all stand. We'll, uh, close with a worship song. God bless you guys.
This is the day you were made. So I'll rejoice and be glad. Rejoice and be glad in it. This is where I've been led. You are more than enough. More than enough for me. You are faithful to your promise. You are strong when I am weak. When I'm standing in your presence, I have everything I need. The joy of the Lord. The joy of the Lord is my strength. The joy of the Lord. The joy of the Lord is my strength. Oh my soul, bless his name. All that is within me say, "The joy of the Lord." The joy of the Lord is my strength. Amen. Sing it out. Jesus, come with me. You are worthy of all. Worthy of all my praise. You are faithful to your promise. You are strong when I am weak. When I'm standing in your presence, I have everything I need. The joy of the Lord. The joy of the Lord is my strength. The joy of the Lord. The joy of the Lord is my strength. Oh my soul, bless his name. All that is within me say, "The joy of the Lord." The joy of the Lord is my strength. Sing. Let it rise. Let it rise up like a river overflowing. Oh, Holy Spirit, let it pour out with no limit, overflow. Oh, Holy Spirit, let it rise up like a river, overflowing. Oh, Holy Spirit, one more time. Let it pour out with no limit, overflowing. Holy Spirit. The joy of the Lord. The joy of the Lord is my strength. Sing it out, guys. The joy of the Lord. The joy of the Lord is my strength. Amen. Oh my soul, bless his name. All that is within me, say. Oh my soul, bless his name. All that is within me say, "Oh my soul, bless his name." All that is within me say, "The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength." Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. >> Amen. God bless you guys. Have a great evening. God bless you.