Transcription
Praise the Lord, everyone. Good to see everyone in this Sunday school service. Let's stand together, and the first thing we'll do is pray over the Sunday school classes. You know, across this auditor, across this plant, there are people in different buildings, these facilities teaching new converts class, new believers class, apostolic immersion, and then the Sunday school classes. Numerous teachers are teaching the oneness of God, Jesus name baptism, and to our, to our children. You know, it's easy to just grant at that and just talk about it being kids and all that kind of stuff, but I'm going to tell you, I grew up in church, and I still remember those lessons. It made an impact on my mind as just a child. You, you never know what can happen in a Sunday school class. You never know the anointing that can take place. Why don't we pray right now for all of our Sunday school teachers, all of our Bible study teachers, and ask God to open the hearts and minds of the students?
Jesus, dear Lord, I'm asking you to anoint every teacher. Let the anointing power of God be in their minds and their hearts. Speak to them in their classes today, Lord, in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. God bless you. You can be seated. Worship with our singers, and God bless you in Jesus' name.
[Music] Glorious you are [Music] There is none [Music] Are Gloria you are the glory, but you are the lifter, you are the of glorious head, you are the glory, you are the lifter, you the are of my hair [Music] [Music] But you are exalted [Music] [Music] You are highly, you are the lifter [Music] You are the lifter [Music] You, you are the glory [Music] You are the glory and the lifter of my head. Praise the Lord. You can make your way back to your seat. You can be seated. Doesn't it feel good to be in church one more time? Hallelujah. I want to be there every time the doors are open, every opportunity I have, if I'm able, I want to, I want to be in the house of God. I want to be in the house of God.
How many of you remember just uh, just a couple of months ago our pastor preaching a message called "Out to Teach"? How to teach? I would encourage you to go back and and watch that sometime this month. Listen to that. Our Bible, our—I started to say Bible quizzing—our small group semester is going to be starting February the 1st, and if you're interested in that, please get with me or my wife. We have a forum for you to fill out to help us get that going. The deadline to get your group together, all the information to us, is going to be January the 11th. So we got just a short window here. I know we just uh, we just flew through Mid-Winter Summit, and now we got, we got to hit the rest of the, the, the everything that's going on in this church. We, we stay busy around here, and that's a good thing. That's a good thing. So look, if you're, if you're interested in that, I know if, if we would have had sign-up sheets that night, they would have been 500 groups started after, after he preached that message, but uh, but you know, if you felt something during that service, it's, you need to reach back and grab it one more time, and, and this, you know, we've had this a couple of years now, these small groups, and they've evolved into Bible studies. There's been souls, it's been won, and even last semester, we really didn't even get to have our small group semester because there were so many Bible studies going on. We had a Bible study in almost every city around our church. We had it in Forest, Sebastopol, Union, I think in Carthage, and every, every city had a Bible study, and, and it, and that's what the small groups evolve into is home Bible studies. So uh, if you have a burden for, for a small group, please let us know, and let's get that going. And see us today for a forum or registration form. We have a limited number of spots, so we're going to get that done before January the 11th. And go back and watch that "Out to Teach," listen to that one more time. I, I came across it just a couple of days ago, and I said, I want to listen to it again. So pray about that. Let's get involved in small groups. Ain't you glad to be a part of a busy church? Hallelujah. I'm glad to be a part of a soul-winning, our revival church in these dark days. We have a church that's a light around here.
Worship with them as they come and sing. Take me to the place where your peace and your love overflows, when my heart is set free from all shame and guilt, James [Music] Take me there [Music] Take me there, take me there [Music] [Music] Is set free from all shame and guilt, change they run [Music] Me there, take me there, take me there. I've gotta know what it feels like, heaven touches earth, and I'm called in between. I've gotta know what it feels like, glory of the me Lord [Music] Take me there [Music] Me to the place where your angels never cease to cry holy, where the elders bowed down and cast all of their crowns at your feet. Oh, take me there, take me there, please take me there, take me there, cause I've gotta know what it feels like, heaven touches earth, and I'm caught in between. I've gotta know what it feels like, glory of the Lord, follow me, so take me there, take me [Music] There, take me there, take me there. Oh, you come like a rushing wind, I can't speak or sin, I just cry holy, and you fall like a mighty rain overtaking me with your glory, and you fall like a mighty rain overtaking me with your glory. You're so holy, holy Lord God Almighty, worthy King. Oh, I've gotta know what it feels like, heaven touches earth, and I'm in called. I've gotta know what it feels like, glory of the Lord to fall, follow [Music] Take me there, oh take me there [Music] Me there [Music] Hallelujah. I feel the presence of the Lord in this house. Just to remain standing, we're gonna ask our ushers to give you an opportunity to be blessed today. Hallelujah. How many of you love the taught word of the Lord? My grandpa used to love to teach. He loved to teach the word, and I love to hear the taught word of the Lord, and I'm looking forward to our pastor teaching to us today. I believe God's going to move in a mighty way. Dear Lord, we ask you to take this offering, and we use it, multiply it in the name of Jesus. God, you know where it needs to go and what needs to happen in the name of Jesus. God bless each and every giver as they march and joyfully cheerlead. Bring your tithes and offering in Jesus' name. God bless you.
[Music] [Music] You cross before me, the world behind, no [Music] Let the people clap their hands and cry, it's not for us, it's all for you [Music] Not to us, but to your name be the glory, not to us, to your name be the glory. Hearts unfold before your throne, the only place for those who know, it's not for us, it's all for you [Music] And our hearts, your unfold, the only place for those who know, it's not for us [Music] But to your name be the glory, not to us, but to your name be the glory, and our hearts unfold before your throne, the only place for those who know, it's not for us, it's all for you. Let the heaven shake and split the sky, let the people clap in their hands and cry, for us, but to your name be the glory, not to us, but to your name be the glory, not to us, but to your name be the glory, be not to us, but to your name be the glory [Music] Hallelujah.
You ready for the word of the Lord? If you remain standing, I want to go to the book of Genesis, chapter 3 and verse 8. I want to say welcome to every guest that's here. We thank you for being in the house of the Lord today, and I want to talk to you for a few minutes, and they that, they there is referring to Adam and Eve, and they, Adam and Eve heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees in the garden. Verse 9, and the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, "Where art thou?" For art thou? God bless you. You can be seated. Would you lift your hands and ask the Lord to speak to our hearts for a few minutes today? Would you do that?
Jesus, dear Lord, we need your word in this place today. We're asking you to speak to our hearts and our minds and our spirits in this place. We need your word in this house today, Lord, in the name of Jesus, and by the power of your blood, speak to us, talk to our minds, our hearts, our spirits. We need to receive your word in the precious, precious name of Jesus, precious name of Jesus.
I want to talk to you for a few minutes today, and I will be very careful and cautious of your time, but I do have something I want to bring to you today. I want to talk to you for a few minutes about relationship. I want to talk to you about relationship. Relationship is one of my favorite subjects because I believe that we struggle in living for God because we misunderstand the fundamentals concerning living for God. There are some fundamentals about living for God that you've got to get a hold of, and if you don't get a hold of them, then living for God will not only be a struggle for you, it'll be confusing. Because if you don't understand this, then, then religion becomes a conglomeration of man-made rules, and once religion becomes a conglomeration of man-made rules, you go on the search to find a place where you can get full salvation for the least commitment. If it's just about rules, well, why not bargain shop? Well, I'd like to go to church here, but you know, if I go to church over here, oh, Pastor Bob, he says I can have full salvation for just a fraction of what you say it's going to cost me. And then the word gets around that there's a new church in town, and they, man, they don't just, they, they're giving salvation away, and they don't require anything at all. You can live like you want to live, and this is the conundrum that we find ourselves in in Mississippi in 2022, is bargain-shopping preachers and trying to find who can give you the biggest acreage in heaven for the least amount of commitment on earth. And if that's what religion is to you, then it's no wonder you're miserable. And then we get into the misunderstanding of love. Well, you, you people, y'all just don't love, you're judgmental, and if you really love somebody, then you, you, you won't judge them, and you won't try to paint them into a box. And God loves me enough that he don't expect a lot out of me in order to save because he, he loves me, and he, he loves me for just what I am. And so we, we get into this debate where really what it comes down to is a bunch of carnal people that does not really understand the concept of living for God debating for their weigh-in over their heads and don't even know what they're talking about. And we now live in a day where saints that sit on the pew don't think anything about saying, well, I just don't, I just don't agree with the pastor on that point, but the same person would not walk out of their doctor's office and say, well, I just don't agree with the doctor on that, because they would feel like that their, their doctor was more educated and had more of a grasp on what was going on than they did. And so I want to talk to you for a few minutes about the single subject that erases all of the questions concerning all that, and that, that concept, that thought process is the process of relationship. The whole object of your living for God is about the fact that God is lonely, and you were created for the purpose of filling that void. I read in your hearing where God, the God of heavens, left his throne, descended to earth, and went into a garden searching for two people that he created for one simple reason: he wanted to walk and talk with him. He just wanted someone to spend time with, so he created a garden for them to live in, and he made sure they had everything that they would need in that garden. He fully furnished that garden as a lover would, because that's what his relationship with man was and is, is a love affair. It is a love affair. When you, when you get into this deal, and I want you to clearly understand me, I believe separations and standards and all that, I believe it as much as anybody on the planet, but I'm telling you, our problem is not whether we believe separation or not, our problem is approach. How do you approach it? You know, most problems in marriages is not over, most problems in marriages is not over what actually took place, it's over approach. It's over the fact that one of the spouses did not take enough time and energy to plan their approach. Now, if you, if you'll listen to me, I'm going to help you today. I'm going to help you in your relationship with God, and I'm going to help you in relationship with your spouse. The, the problem is not what happened, the problem is approach. You, you one of the sp, one of the partners did not take the time to plan their approach. Now, if you'd still been dating, you'd have been real careful how you went about that, but since you're married, you just bust up in there like a bull in a china closet, and, and so uh, when you know, when you're dating or when you're worried about the relationship, you walk in there delicately, and you say, I, I left my shoes here, maybe I misplaced them. You know, you're already thinking she moved my shoes, but that's not what you do. You say uh, I know I left them here, well, maybe I put them somewhere and forgot about it. Did you see me maybe move my shoe? Oh, no, I moved, oh, can you tell me where they are? See, the problem is not the shoes, the problem is approach. Because after you've been married five years, you bust up in there and say, who moved my shoes? Well, I moved them after I tripped over them the third time. Well, I left them there for a reason, I didn't want to forget where I put them. Well, you are to put them somewhere else where everybody in the house won't trip over them. You left them right in the walk path, and then you're in divorce court, and the judge says, well, what, what do y'all hear about shoes? No, the problem eating shoes, the problem was not shoes, it could have been shoes or a tie or a suit jacket or a dress or a can of Coke, the prominent shoes, the problem is approach. Yes, and love. See, a lot of people says, well, I'll tell you the problem with you Pentecost, you don't have enough love, you don't want, you don't love, I mean love, if you love someone, and, and there isn't a thinking that love has no law. See, they think that love has no law, and that's not the truth. Love is not absent of law. Love hinges on law. What makes the door of love swing open is the linchpin and the hinges of law. The truth of the matter is, there can, outside of law, there is no love. Love is held and confined by law. What does that mean? Well, it means that if you are raising children and you live on a major highway and you have a law that says no child can go past the mailbox, that's love. Saying, well, baby, I don't want to confine you, y'all just go where you want to go, if you get hit by a Mack truck, we'll have you a big funeral. That's not love. Love has law, but people want to separate religion, and they want to separate salvation off by itself and pretend it works differently from everything else. Religion and salvation does not work differently than everything else; it is actually the example for everything else. God says, if your earthly fathers know how to love you, how much more does your heavenly Father know how to love you? I know how to love my people, and I love them, and one of the ways I love them is I insert laws into their lives. And many people misunderstand the New Testament because they, in fact, they'll only read the New Testament. There's people won't even read the Old Testament, they just read the New Testament. The Old Testament don't matter. The truth, the matter is, is you do not, you cannot get a proper understanding of the New Testament without understanding the Old Testament. Is the Old Testament that reveals the beauty of the New Testament, and Jesus did not come and do away with the law. He said, I came to fulfill the law. I came to show you how to live the law in love. And so the whole concept of the New Testament is not that it's not without law, but what he asks now is you only do it because you want to. If you don't want to do it, don't, but that doesn't mean that you're saved. In fact, the fact that you don't want to reveals that you're not. I think you missed that last point. The fact that you do not want to please God reveals the fact that you don't, listen to me, that you don't have relationship. Because when you have relationship, when you have a good, healthy relationship with God, nothing he asks will be too much. See, people misunderstand separation and what separation is about. People totally misunderstand separation. Here's the concept, and here's the way people approach living for God. Are you ready for this? Well, if I wear this, will I go to hell? Well, if I go here, will that send me to hell? Well, if I bring this into my home, will that make me be lost? Well, if I do this, will I go to hell? You're, we're back to my point of approach. You're approaching the relationship wrong. The con, same concept would be for you to go to your spouse over and over and over again and say, if you found out that I was talking to another woman on Facebook, would you divorce me? And her answer is, well, I, I don't think so. Why? Why would you want to talk to another woman on Facebook? Oh, I just, I was just wondering, just hypothetical. You know, if you found out that I was meeting another woman that I had met on Facebook, would we be divorced? Well, my wife's over there nodding her head like this, uh, somewhere in this dialogue, the question from the wife is gonna be, do you want to? That's the crux of the matter is you wanting to. We're back to the shoes. The problem's not really over what you did, the problem is, why was I not enough? What was the problem with our relationship that when our meeting came to walk and talk in the cool of the evening, you were somewhere else? Oh, y'all gonna make it hard on me this evening. God came to walk and talked with Adam and Eve in the garden, and they had found something more interesting than him.
[Music] Why? What on earth could be more interesting than the God that created the universe? What on earth would you rather be doing than walking and talking with the God that created the plant, planets, and the stars? And yes, you see, God had the ability to create anything and everything he wanted. If he wanted planets, he just slings his fingers, and a new galaxy appears. If he wants animals, he speaks them into the existence. If he wants a son, he turns the sun on with a snap of his fingers. If he wants a river, he runs his finger down the side of a globe, and a river begins. If he wants an ocean, he speaks it into existence and draws a line in the sand, and the ocean can go no further. Anything God's heart desires, he creates. Yes, sir, except for one thing. The only thing on earth that God needs, God only has one need in his relationship, and because you were created, he wants relationship with you, and nothing else on earth can supply that need in him. And if he didn't need relationship with you, you wouldn't exist. You were created for the purpose of relationship. You are the only person that can supply your peace in God's puzzle, and God's puzzle is not complete unless your piece is in it. It's big, it's big when you realize it. God has one requirement for Adam and Eve. He said, "Do not eat of the tree that's in the center of the garden."
[Music] See, I'm able to show you how much I love you because I created all this for you. Every time, every time you look at Niagara Falls, you remember that's the expression of my love. Am I boring y'all today? All right, stay with me. There's a lot going on in this auditorium. I'll hide my eyes and preach with my eyes covered. Maybe sometimes I wish I was blind, I could preach better. Oh, no, I didn't mean that, God. When you stand and look at Niagara Falls, it's God's expression of love. When you look at the Grand Tetons, when you, when you look at, at the Grand Canyon, when you see a beautiful, I, I stood the other day amazed, a, a woodpecker landed on a tree behind my house, and I took a pair of binoculars and looked at that beautiful creation that God created. He didn't have to do all that, he did that so I would be out there looking at and admiring his creation. That was the way he expressed his love. I only have one way of expressing my love back to him. You know what it is? Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. He said, there's some things I don't want you eating of. That's the way you express your love back to me. We got a relationship going on here. See, this is about relationship, and people refine it down to its lowest denominator and take the emotion out of it. Well, if we go to this church, we can't do that. If we go to this church, they don't want you to go here. If we do this, well, man, if you want, if you want salvation like that, if you have, you tried dirt cheap, maybe they got a salvation plan. Why are we bargain-countering, bargain counter-shopping God? If you use that same concept, see, here, here's the deal, here's what I'm coming to you with, it proves, listen, it proves that love has left the building. It proves that love has left the building because you don't approach in that manner with anything that you love. God forbid, come here, baby. God forbid, come help Brother Copeland. Come on, all right, come help me. God forbid that this little darling boy, you can tell she's got Copeland in her, she thinks she belongs on the platform. Come on. God forbid that anything ever go wrong with this little darling, but let's just imagine tonight or today that we find out she, she has a brain tumor. This little, you're enjoying this too much, she, let's just imagine we found out she's got a brain tumor, and the main concern of my parents who's raising her is, well, how much is that going to cost? We need to shop around and see if we can find us, maybe there's a doctor that's been discredited or about to lose his license or something that would do this brain surgery. I mean, we can rent a building somewhere and get him some chloroform and some alcohol, maybe he can do this brain surgery and, and not charge us a hundred thousand dollars. Does that sound reasonable to y'all? Hey, I know of an excellent veterinarian. Why are you acting that way? See, when love's involved, the people that love her and her guardians and raising her, so hey, we're not, we don't care what it costs, I want the best surgeon. Well, but it's all gonna cost a quarter of a minute. What does that mean? We'll worry about that later. Right now, what we need to do is take care of this threat. We'll figure out a way to pay for it. We're not worried about that. Why? Because love is the minute that your question is, well, if I go to this church, are they going to make me stop going here? Well, if I go to this church, are they
Going to stop that. Do I have to change the way I dress? Love has left the building. You're not interested in a relationship. You're not interested in the love affair. You're interested in getting your hide out of hell, and that's all.
God said, "Here's the deal. I've created the universes, the planets, the stars; created you, formed you out of the dust of the earth. The expression that I love you is everywhere. Every bird that flies by is the expression of my love. Every cool evening, every sunset, every sunrise, every cloudy day, every uncloudy day, the expression of how much I love you is everywhere. And if that's not enough, look at the cross." [Applause]
You have one way of expressing your side of the relationship back to me. You know what that—that way is? Come out from among those that don't love me. Come out from among those that only love themselves. Come out of hedonism. Come out of atheism. Come out of the love of this world. Separate yourself unto me and show me that you love me enough to let the whole world know that you belong to me, in the way you walk, and the way you talk, and the way you live, and the way that you act.
What's wrong with a woman that wants to look unmarried when she is? A man came to me one time and said, "I don't—I want you to talk to my wife, Pastor. I just don't know—seems like she's—I mean, I don't know—you're gonna have to counsel us. I mean, it's like there's men making overtures to her all the time. I mean, I know she's beautiful, but there's men making over—I mean, everywhere we go there's men making overtures. I—I don't know. We really need some—some counseling or something." I said, "Brother, counseling ain't gonna help you. Your wife doesn't want to be married." "Well, no, it's not her, it's them." I said, "I love you, buddy, you just keep believing that."
I'm 55. I've seen a lot of beautiful women in 55 years. There's a reason why all the other beautiful women, the men are scared to approach them, but they ain't scared to approach your wife, right? There's a signal being sent. I think I centered my jeep. You see, there's too many people that's happy living for God. There's too many people doing it with joy. There's too many people that just—just they love living for God. They love looking apostolic. They love singing in the choir. They love God with all their heart. They love being a part of what's going on, and the world does not even catch their eye.
What's wrong with someone that lives for God like Lot's wife? Constantly, "I want to live for God, but I just don't want to leave the things of this world." See, your—your problem is not that the church is too restrictive. Your problem is not that the church has too many regulations. Your problem is—if that is like Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve only had one rule, just one. What's going on here about awesome eyes, Joel Roy? Was it Adam and Eve only had one rule, just one: Don't eat of the tree that's in the midst of the garden.
I mean, you can eat pineapples, oranges, blood oranges, little oranges, big oranges. You can eat big apples, little apples, red apples, green apples, gold apples. You can eat pink apples. You can eat blueberries, blackberries, raspberries. Yes, I mean, are y'all getting the point? I need to keep going through the list. There's 10,000 things that you can eat. There's ten thousand things that you can enjoy, and you can enjoy them ten thousand different ways. You can eat them with milk or without milk. You can eat them in a fruit salad, or you can eat them by yourself. I mean, they weren't lacking food. They weren't lacking fruit. [Music] You hadn't got it yet. There were 10,000 ways they hadn't enjoyed all that stuff, and with ten thousand—a hundred thousand trees that they could eat of, they're standing looking lonely, longingly under the one that they can't. You see, the problem was not the fruit. The problem—they had a relationship issue. They fell so in love with the world that God created, they didn't have time for the one that created it.
This is why prayer is so vital. This is—this is why the prayer room is so vital. I love y'all, but you that come to church year in and year out without coming to the prayer room, you—you got a problem. The—the job of the church is to create—create an atmosphere of relationship with God. The whole object is—is to give you a place—and I got to be done in 10 minutes—and I'm going to—to give you a place for relationship. Your problem is not the things you're worried over. Your problem is you haven't built relationship. Because the minute that you fall in love with Jesus Christ, it's not going to be about—"You mean we can't eat of that beautiful tree that's in the midst of the garden?" That's not what it's going to be about anymore.
I'm going to tell you when I know a man's in love. When a man is truly in love, you know, they're somewhere around—there's somewhere around four billion women on the face of this planet, but when a man truly is in love, all other women except one disappear. Don't even notice them. There's one woman he's interested in, and that's it. And you know what makes that—there's only one thing—listen to me, are you listening?—there's only one thing that can create that, and it is proper relationship. And when that man is involved in proper relationship, all he cares about is pleasing that one woman. And listen to me, listen to me—it doesn't matter—it doesn't matter what the rules of engagement of that relationship are, because if she loves him and he loves her, there will be rules. "He's oh, no, no, no, rule—relationships don't have rules." Okay, okay. Well, I'll tell you what you do. Are you in love with your spouse? You—your spouse have a wonderful, loving relationship. Just don't let him come home for about three days, and when he gets home, you just take him right back. "Oh, I'm so glad you're home. Come on, I've been putting your meals in the refrigerator. We'll get out and heat them up. I'm so glad to see you. Well, I want to tell you where—but I don't matter where you've been. We're in love. Love don't have rules. It don't matter—well, what I've been doing—it don't matter what you've been doing. We're just in love. Love covers all that." You're an idiot. You got cranium issues. No-rule love is held in the confines of rules. "I love you conditionally." No, love is unconditional. You're an idiot. "I'm crazy about you, but you're crazy." Love—the way you express your love is through those rules.
A man in a—mom and dad that loves their kids said, "Hey, I love you so much that I'm going to trust you till 11 o'clock. At 11 o'clock, trust is over. You have your—had better be back in this house with the door locked, or I'm gonna beat you within an inch of your life. I know it's on YouTube; post it." That's what love is. Will the child protect it? But child protection says if you love your kids, you say, "You're going to be in this house, and I'm going to show you that I mean it. Because I can control whipping you. I can stop right before you die, but a Mack truck running over you at midnight won't stop; it'll plow you down, and the people that you run into—a lot of shoots you up with drugs and you don't live through it. I know when to stop spanking you, but I'll tell you this, I'm going to give you enough on your backside that you think next time at 15 till 11, I better go to the house now." That's real love. You say, "Well, the child—" Well, look what a good job they're doing. I'll tell you one thing, I know what a good job parents were doing before drugs and alcohol and all that messed it up. You see, that's what love is. Love says—love starts calling. If he gets off at four o'clock and he's 15 minutes on the drive home, at 4:20, love starts calling that cell phone. That's real love. "Where are you?" "Well, I had to stop and get gas." Okay, so you'll be here in about three minutes, and—and—and you can say, "Well, well, what are you doing? What are you doing?" Hey, I'm going to tell you, if you got somebody that loves you that much, if you've got somebody that loves you like that, you're a—thank your God. Don't—why are you trying to keep tabs on me? Why are you trying to keep up with me? You know what you better do? You better thank your God, because if you have someone that doesn't keep tabs on you like that, they don't care about you. And I'm done with this, but here's what God says. God said this is about relationship. The only way that I have—that you can show me that you love me is—there are some things I'm going to ask you not to partake of. "Yes, sir." These things are assigned a rebellion. There—listen—they're the flags of the world. They're the flags of orderliness. They're the icons and the demarcation of what it means to be a part of this world, and I'm calling you out of that world, so don't wear their garments. See, that's what He said. I got to be done. I really didn't have time for this, I don't guess, but that's what He said. Whenever—whenever they—they left Israel and they were dispersed into Babylon and dispersed into Egypt, the one thing He asked of them is that, "Hey, if you're my people, if you're still my people while you're sojourning in those lands, don't wear their garments." Read it. I don't have time to take you there today. He said, "Don't wear their Egyptian garments. Don't wear their Babylonian garments. Don't eat of their Babylonian and Egyptian food. Don't drink of their Babylonian and Egyptian wine. Don't eat at their tables. Don't wear their garments. Don't get your hair cut like they wear their haircut, as you sojourn in that land. Keep dressing, eating, and living like an Israelite." Is that what He said? Because I gave you all this to prove I love you. You've got one way of proving you love me back. Don't blend into Egypt. Don't blend into Babylon. Be proud to be an Israelite. Be proud to be a child of God. And you know how you show that? In the way you dress, and the way you live, and the way you get your hair cut, the way you conduct yourself. Let the whole world know you belong to me. Hallelujah. It's not about rules; it's about relationship. And listen, if you can't do it with joy, don't start trying to do the rules and hate them. Get an altar somewhere and say, "What's wrong with me that I wouldn't desire this?" It's all going to come back to relationship, folks. It's all going to come back to relationships. Stand together. Lift your hands all across this building. Jesus, dear Lord, I'm so thankful and I'm so grateful for your goodness and your mercy. Open our minds and our hearts and our spirits to this God. Let us receive this with all that is within us, in Jesus' name we pray. God bless you. Next Sunday at three o'clock, I'll be doing part two of relationship. God bless you. You're just missed, in Jesus' name. I love you. Shake hands with our guests. Let them know we're thankful that they're here.