Transcription
[Music] [Music] breakthrough expecting Jesus to [Music] [Music] [Music] standing at the and he's to those who humbly will see Lord te the heavens [Music] Let Jesus for all near Jesus to bless you expecting Jesus to move oh God please don't Beed breakr weigh your don't there's fullness of your joy in his presence refeshing is now on his way youres and your and [Music] he [Music] Jesus with with love with with canot be exp foress goodness wisdom and strength all right if you're a kid and you know a Bible verse we're going to start in 10 seconds so come on up here with me we'll kick this thing off right and you'll get a box of Milk Duds I'm just saying all right you ready ma'am turn and face your adoring public here we go be ye kind one to another tenderhearted forgiving one another as Christ Jesus has forgiven you Ephesians 4 32 boom great job are you ready here we go John 3:16 for God so loved the world that he gave his only son whoever believes in him should not perish for everlasting life yes ma'am that was awesome all right gray you're the last one you ready blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God yes ma'am that was awesome great job our student band is coming to lead us in worship I'll pray and then we'll focus on making much out of Jesus tonight dear heavenly father thank you for loving us thank you for a Wednesday night in an air conditioned building where we can sit down and safely focus on you and worship you help us see you high and lifted up tonight help us um pay attention to what you have to say to us help us celebrate who you are and the things you've done in your name we pray amen all right will you stand and worship with us tonight this song is probably one of our youth group's favorite songs um we do it quite a bit so hopefully our students will help us out a little bit over there but I hope you guys um just worship God's [Music] name wanding into the night want in a place to hide this weary Soul this bag [Music] of and I try with all my mind but I just can't wi this fight I'm slowly drifted a [Music] bag and just when I ran out of road I met a man I didn't know and he told me that I was not [Music] alone you picked me up you turn me around you place my feet on Solid Ground I think the master I than the savior because he healed my heart you changed my name forever free I'm not the same I than the master I than the Savior I than [Music] God I cannot deny what I've seen I've got no choice but to believe my doubts are burning like Ashes In The Wind so so long to my old friends burden and bitterness you can just keep them moving now you ain't welcome here from now till I streets of gold I'll sing of how you saved my soul this way where son is found his way back oh picked me up and turn me around and place my feet on Solid Ground I think the master I the savior because you healed my heart you changed my name forever free I'm not the same I than you master I than the Savior I than God let's sing how lost another one oh hell another one I am free yes I am free oh I am free H lost another one I am free I am free I am free tell us another one I am free I am free I am free help L another one I am free I am free yes I am free because you pick me up you turn me around and my feet on Solid Ground I think the master I think the savior because you heal my heart we change my name forever free I'm not the same I think the master I think the sa I thank God [Music] you know this next song um it's called FM foundation and I think about we have a lot of ponds in D and um if you look at a pond when a drought comes if the pond doesn't have an underground Spring to feed it it will completely dry up and when a drought comes in your life if your life is not founded on Christ it can be easy to get completely hopeless very quickly um so just think about that as we sing this song and how blessed you are to have a savior who's [Music] Dependable Christ is my firm foundation he's the rock on which I stand when everything around me is shaken oh I've never been more glad that I put my faith in Jesus cuz he's never let me down he's faithful through [Music] generations so why would he fail now he won't he [Music] WS I've still got joy in chaos I've got peace that makes no sense so I won't be going [Music] under I'm not held by My Own Strength cuz I build my life on Jesus he's never let me down he's faithful in every season so why would he fail now he [Music] won't he won he won't he won't fail he won't fail he [Music] won't he won't he won't fail he won't [Music] fail let's sing rain came and wind blew oh rain came and wind blw my house was built on you and I'm safe with you and I'm going to make it through oh rain came and windw my house was built on you I'm safe with you and I'm going to make it through yeah I'm going to make it through cuz I'm standing strong on you yeah I'm going to make it my house was built on you Christ Christ is my firm [Music] foundation The Rock on which I stand when everything around me is shaking oh I've never been more glad I put my faith in Jesus oh he's never let me down he's faithful through death Generations so I would he fa now he won't no he [Music] won't he won't fail he won't fail he won't [Music] he won't he won't fail he won't fail no he won't [Applause] sorry sometimes I get confused you can sit down uh missions team you can come on up though sorry uh Sunday morning you woke up in your home the air conditioner was blowing he stretched as you got out of your comfortable bed meanwhile in Stanford Connecticut 41 tired grumpy sweaty missionaries piled into two uh 15 passenger vans and headed out on a 14h hour journey to make it back to Dun North Carolina Sunday night you enjoyed a food truck dinner we ate cheeseburgers and potato chips outside of H McDonald's you watch fireworks we watch brake lights and uh about 10 is that right 10:00 10:20 something like that we rolled up on the campus and looked around there was no hot dogs left no no dessert no fireworks going off and we unloaded our trucks and went to bed uh it was terrible poor us um if you're not familiar with family paloa trip uh we do this uh once a year for one week in the summer and basically uh we sleep on cots and air mattresses in a church and and go to different churches and put on a block party to invite the community in and then share the gospel with the people who come uh this year we got to serve at six different churches in the suburbs of of Boston Massachusetts and uh it was really really cool uh the different ethnicities that we got to see um you I don't know if you saw in some of these pictures can we get the pictures rolling up there they look better than me anyway uh there's ladies in like full traditional something Garb I don't know it's not Baptist going down the slides it's pretty cool and uh at every Church um we saw God at work at every church we saw people respond to the gospel um with the exception of one don't amen too fast Pastor Cameron but don't worry everything turns out good from that church too so we saw dozens of kids and a couple of teenagers respond to the gospel we got to invest in churches that are experiencing a much different um U Mission field than we are here in done uh we've got it pretty easy in the Bible Belt as far as visitor flow and and people being open to the gospel so it's really cool to be in a place like that it's also cool to get to spend a week with your friends living like uh hobos and eating canned beans it was no I'm joking we ate uh New England clam chowder and Boston cream pie some too so it was great U but I talk a lot so I thought i' would let some of our missionaries share and uh I forgot who was first Miss Katie you know that's saying um wob blend in when you were born to stand out I think that kind of applies here I have no idea where my Pala shirt is because the last uh Church asked us to wear their shirt and somewhere between there and here it has disappeared so um this is their shirt I've got the opportunity to go on this missions trip numerous times um and I always leave better than I came uh if you know anything about me I'm a people person so while they were all very frustrated about being stuck in that van for 17 hours I was right in the middle and so I was right where I wanted to be I mean I was completely surrounded uh when I saw Jeremy start to shake his head to stay awake I'm like okay van game we're getting ready to play a game everybody awake here we go and we start playing games so um a couple of things that stuck out to me um number one I've had the pleasure to go with my son Dallas right here um he started going when he was in sixth or seventh grade and so to be able to um step out of our world and be able to serve alongside with my son and watch him grow in his effort of serving and the capacity that he's able to serve as a mom you really can't ask ask for much better than that than to be able to serve beside him and I look forward to sharing the same experience with my girls um and then number two uh about halfway through the week you start getting really tired um and you're just not really sure you know sometimes it's easy to be like okay God you brought us all the way up here everywhere we go there's Bri lights um you know there's a lot of people in this team you know what exactly are you doing and that night Pastor Jeremy did the devotions with us and the scripture he shared was ecclesiast 8:1 17 then I beheld all the work of God that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun because though a man labor to seek it out yet he shall not find it yay further though wise men think to know it yet shall he not be able to find it and what we took away or what I took away from that is I'm not supposed to know all that God is doing um we have a few stories that I feel like will be shared here tonight of specific examples where God showed what he was doing um but just in team building with more people just with uh you know trials and circumstances that were happening it it's hard not to question that um but that's where our faith comes in and it gets stronger and you know God's at work whenever there are trials and so um that was one thing I learned is you know we're not going to know until we get to heaven everything that happened but uh it's still my favorite week of the year and they still let me come and put up with me and so maybe next year I'll be right back in the middle of that van yet [Applause] again so I have been wanting to attend paloa for many many years and different circumstances happen where I couldn't with work or time off or whatever so when IID learned about paloa this year I was determined I was going so I put my time in got time off all that um and over the years I've heard Chris and Cara talk about it because they've always been for the last four or five years about how much fun they're having and the relationships that are built and the ministry that's preached so I was very looking forward to going this year um and they weren't wrong um from the sweltering heat that we packed in our suitcases and took with us um to the many many conversations about red hot dogs to all of the excited kids faces and some adults that were going on the slides and obstacle courses um I just knew I'd made the right choice to go this year um I really noticed that um many areas that we were in like kind of what Jeremy said they were very diverse ethnicity um they had diverse uh cultures and religions and so a lot of the churches that we went to had a very small congregation and some of them didn't have any kids at all some of them were just like the pastors kids for example so to see the turnout we kept telling them you've had a great turnout they're like no this is not good I'm like yeah this is a good turnout um so it just it just made it all the while all the more worthwhile for us to have gone um each host church was very excited that we were there working alongside them to bring in families into their churches um even the gospel presentation as simple as it was it was very effective we had many many hands raised like little kids we teenagers a couple of adults um that just wanted to be prayed over even if they had already made their faith in Christ they just wanted to be prayed over um and it was just all worth it even if only one person had raised their hand it was worth it um and for me personally the very last event that we did on Saturday evening I had the opportunity to talk to a gentleman as we were serving before we got rained on um and asked him he asked us where we were from so we told him he's like oh I used to live in North Carolina in Benson near a sheets and I was like okay so we got to talk and come to find out he lived in McGees Crossroads so in Boston Massachusetts I'm talking to someone who used to live in Johnston County North Carolina what are the odds you know um but there was just many little events like that and circumstances that I experienced this year um so I was just very thankful for the opportunity for the friendships that were built um for the many hide-and seek um plays that we games we play Kiren um but um all in all I'm just thankful and so if anyone's on the fence about signing up for next year please do it it is so worthwhile you will get blessed I promise you so this was my fifth paloa I've been going since my sixth grade year and like it's been pretty similar every time I mean of course we've went to different places there's different temperatures this one we were expecting to be really cold cuz you're like you're going up north no everybody in Boston was like this is the worst Heat Wave we're ever going to have so it was basic Bally just like Texas the year before um but it was great because like um I think both of them may have mentioned it Uncle Jeremy talked to us about how God always has a plan even when we don't understand it and she also talked about like some of our attendance levels like I've done palas where we've had like a hundred people and so then to do a Pala where we only have like 20 to 30 people I'm like what did we do wrong am I not doing enough did I not is it is it me and I think to hear Uncle Jeremy talk about that and say that it's not what we see it's just it's our obedience it's just us obeying God and doing what he tells us to do that he wants that's what glorifies him and if stuff comes out of what we do that's all his work and we give him the glory so yes while it was a fun crazy adventure we stayed in this hotel that was like the Hollywood Tower of Terror at Disney World um the the elevator did not get struck by lightning so we're okay but it was it was all this it was this huge Adventure but knowing that God had his hand over us and he had a plan and that we saw fruit we saw purpose we know we knew what we were doing and we did exactly what God told us to do so overall it was a great trip and I loved it and like Miss April said if you're thinking about going on the trip I definitely would [Applause] hi guys so this was my first paloa and ever since I've started going to this church I've seen like the pictures and everybody talking about it and it was kind of always just this unknown thing for me I didn't really know what I was getting into I'd heard people talk about how fun it was and I remember when I was pretty new to the church sitting listening to people talk about it like a recap like we're doing right now and seeing all the pictures and being like how in the world do they get those Inflatables all the way over there and that many hot dogs and that many people and just thinking like what in the world is that what are they doing and now I'm still wondering that but I know a little bit more about what it's about um it was a lot of fun and it was a huge blessing to me um one of the coolest ways I remember seeing God work over this week is that I was on snow cones for my outside job and so when it was like the fifth out of sixth paloa of the week we were like getting really low on the snow syrup and to the point where we were going to have to cut it early because we were not going to have enough for the next paloa that was going to happen on Saturday so it was me and Haley hle standing there do our snow cones and the pastor of the church that we were at comes up and is like when are y'all ending just like asking when the whole group was ending we were like oh the group is ending at 12:30 but we're going to have to end in like 15 minutes at like 11:30 so an hour before everybody else because we were so low on the snow conone syrup and he was like oh what's the issue and I was like oh yeah we're like out of the syrup he was like oh really and I was like yeah you know kind of wondering where he was going with it and he was like oh I have some and I was like really that's kind of a random thing to like have on hand but I followed him and sure enough I was expecting you know like maybe like the bottom of a little one or something I don't know what I was expecting but I walk into the back of this random Church closet there's pictures of the church that we were at somewhere it looks like a castle like this church I wanted to climb to the top of the tower but I don't think that was possible but I'm still kind of sad that I didn't but I go in the back of this random Church closet with this pastor I've never met before and he shows me like literally shelves of like 30 or 40 containers of the snow con syrup and I was like what in the world that's like crazy but I took one I took two I think but we had enough for the Pala that we did and for the next team so that was like something crazy such a God thing that that happened because we had like the order got canceled and just all this stuff but it was just like God knew we needed some snowl syrup and so this church had a lot for us if we needed it and that was really cool and I just really was able to see how Jesus wants us to love each other on this trip and I got really close to a bunch of people and it was a great [Applause] experience so like uh many of the people here this was my first paloa um I really you I'd heard what to expect but until you experience you really don't know um so but that all being said I I loved it it was amazing um one thing I learned um in a really hard way um I wouldn't say early in my Christian life but earlyish is that it's really important to be around other believers whether it's coming to church and especially these times when you can work with them um in different environments and actually be working and serving other people that's extremely important in your walk with Christ or at least it is for me and I believe it is for others too and it's probably one of the most underrated things that is in the Christian Life it's just the need to be around other believers and that's what made this trip uh one of the things that made this trip amazing for me was how everyone was encouraging everyone was even though they were tired and grumpy they were not uh combative with each other maybe there were sometimes called we got really tired at some of these points um and when I think about a specific event in my um that we had I think about our very last paloa um our team was going to I believe it was the Mayflower church is what it was called and we' already driven a lot that day especially me and a few other guys we had to return some stuff and then we had to drive I think it's like an hour to the Mayflower event and when we got there we knew it was going to rain it kept saying 100% chance of rain but we set up anyway and we got to go through the first hour and then the skies just opened up I mean it let loose uh to the point while you're walking you look down out your shoes and water is coming up out of them as you know you're stepping down um on top of that though um we um were trying to pack up and we had a three-hour Drive ahead of us but even in all that all the driving and everything else uh the people outside were working hard some others were able to go inside and councel they had already gotten soak and wet anyway though um and you know we're looking at it from ours perspective and I was thinking you know this is it's kind of a mess we were B the things going on the trailer were getting soaked things weren't being put up right um and you know I didn't think of it as a disaster or anything like that but I was like now we got to go three hours we're soaking wet this is really difficult and then uh Pastor Jeremy came out and said I can't remember the number do you remember how many people responded I feel like it was like five or six people and while I'm thinking this is a really tough day you know we're probably like six or seven hours of driving and being soaking wet it was a tough day for us but it was the absolute best day ever for six people that's the best day of their life and um that's what I took away so it was also my very first paloa and I had heard about paloa like the whole time it's been going on but I really wasn't sure what to expect till I got there um and it was a lot of work but it was so much fun and it was so rewarding um I didn't realize how rewarding it would be um because when you're in it you don't realize how much you're doing you just think oh I'm just running a snow cone table but really you're doing so much more um one of my favorite Parts was just getting um to strengthen some old friendships and also just meeting new people and getting new friendships but I think my very favorite part of the entire trip was me and Olivia Kip were on snow cones for another team and you I mean that's a not a super important job I mean you're not on the street sharing the gospel but when those little kids just come up to you and you ask them what flavor they want they're so EXC excited just to see you they don't even care about the snow cones they're just excited to talk to you and see you and just showing them how much you really care about them and coming all the way there just to ask them what snow con flavor they want and just the joy in their faces it is so rewarding just to be able to to be a part of that um and then I think the first night it was just of our posa it was hard and there was a lot of people and we just it was really hot and we just weren't feeling it I know me Olivia weren't feeling it but then we walk in and Uncle Jeremy tells us that 15 people responded and it made it even if one person would have responded it made it all worth it it was just it was just so rewarding and just to be a little part of like blessing all those people was amazing and it's Boston I mean you don't think of that as like a third war country but those people need Jesus just as just as much as everybody across the world all those unreached people groups they need it just as much and just to be able to give them that Joy is just it was so amazing so I'm so grateful that I had that opportunity [Applause] um this was my first year at paloa as well um I had heard about how it would be long hours riding in the van hard work outside with the Inflatables and uh I knew it would be the record setting Heatwave um as we were going through Boston but regardless of all those circumstances I knew that our team was prepared um in our study of Ecclesiastes Jeremy had talked to us like some others had mentioned about God always having a plan even if we don't know what it is if we don't know everything that's going on behind the scenes that God is still working in people's hearts um our paloa on Friday night for the first time in paloa history it got totally rained out there was no Inflatables no games outside um we just went straight inside into the service and even families came in late because we started the service earlier than they were expecting um and a boy named Hezekiah he missed the first two P's of Jeremy's message um you might see on our shirts we learn about how God's love is not a prize that we have to win it's not a payment for good works that we do um Hezekiah he missed all that he was only there for the last pee which is about God's love and our Salvation he gives it to us as a present um and so Jeremy did his message we went on about our nights we served the red hot dogs um but it was still really hard not to be discouraged just because our night had not gone the way that we had planned um but God had a plan and the next day at a different Church 30 minutes away guess who showed up Hezekiah and his entire family um he got to hear all three p's the entire message and then at the end he raised his hand that he would like to speak with someone so um I got to pull him to the side and I was just asking him a few questions to make sure that he understood what the message was about what Pastor Jeremy was saying um and he straight up told me he said that's why I'm here that's why we came back so that I could learn more about Jesus um so after we talked for a few minutes I could tell that he did understand that he was a sinner um that Jesus died for him and he was ready to accept the present from Jesus Jesus so I was able to pray with him and he did accept Jesus as his savior so uh 43 of us and if we had time most of us could give a testimony like that some of us don't want to most us could not everybody's uh in front of the group talker which is one of the great things about this trip um you don't have to be you can serve God in a lot of other ways so um as you hear about palas coming up in the future um if you're tough enough if you're brave enough if you're Spirit-filled enough uh to go um let me know we'll get you signed up it'll be a great time um but uh I do want to thank this team the best uh Team we've ever taken to Boston in the history of paloa will you give them one more big hand as they return to their seats and as the band gets ready uh to lead us in another song I did just want to tell a couple of or one story about um paloa um so these buildings are historic old beautiful buildings most of the ones that we were in um one of them was literally built in the 1880s and we're coming inside and playing games and throwing Starburst and squeezing out whipped cream and having kids dunk their face in it we go in this one building it's the Arabic Baptist Church of Boston and uh I'm talking to the pastor there and it's this historic building a church that declined so much that they sold it and this small group of Arabic Believers bought the church building and two more churches meet there during the week but we were there with the Arabic Baptist Church doing a PLA and I'm talking to him and he says you see that stained glass wind over there I said yeah that's that's beautiful Pastor he said it's signed by Chris by it's signed by Tiffany yeah and I was like Tiffany from my church Tiffany judge I don't Tiffany the ' 80s pop singer I don't he said no you don't know who Tiffany is I said I've never heard of Tiffany I Googled it later Tiffany's was a famous stained glass producer in the late 1800s and early 1900s the store closed in the 1930s so I said oh that's amazing Tiffany and uh he said that window alone is valued at 1 million million dollar I said that I said pastor you understand in about 30 minutes I'm going to be throwing Starburst all over this room he said try not to hit the window um but the Arabic Baptist Church typically has six kids on Sunday morning Mayflower Baptist Church that saw five salvations had zero kids the Sunday morning before and it's not because these pastors and churches aren't putting work in it's because this is a postchristian society and it's not the Bible Belt and so um as a church family you partnered with us when you sent us up there to invest in these churches and now there's people there new believers who didn't just get saved but are also connected to a local New Testament Church where they can grow um are they going to stand up and worship stand up let's worship together [Music] where creation suddenly articulate with a thous tongues to lift one cry then from north to south and east to west we'd hear Christ be [Music] magnified where the whole earth echoing his Eminence his name would burst from sea and sky from rivers to the mountain Mountain Toops we hear Christ be [Music] magnified oh Christ be magnified let his praise arise Christ be magnified in me and oh Christ the magnified from the altar of my life Christ be magnified in [Music] me when Every Creature Finds Its in most M and every human heart it's native cry oh then in one in rur him of Praise we'll sing Christ be [Music] magnified in all Christ be magnified that is praise arise Christ be magnify in the oh Christ be magnified from the altar of my life Christ be magnified in [Music] me I won't bow to idols and strong and worship you and if it puts me in fire I'll Rejoice cuz you're there too I won't be formed by feelings I hold fast to what is true and if the cross brings transformation I'll be crucified with you cuz death is just the doorway into Resurrection Life and if I join you in in your suffering and I'll join you when you rise and when you return in glory when all the angels and the Saints my heart will still be singing and my song will be the [Music] sa oh Christ be magnify let his praise arise Christ be might in me oh Christ be magnified from the altar of my life Christ be magnified in me and oh Christ be magnified let his praise arise Christ be magnified in me oh Christ be magnified from the altar of my life Christ be magnified in me if you grab your Bibles and turn with me to Ecclesiastes chapter 8 I will share with you a brief brief word from God Matthew chapter 8 I'm sorry Ecclesiastes chapter 8 Ecclesiastes chapter 8 you've probably been there you're sitting at a funeral because it's the respectful thing to do someone's passed away and you want to be there for their family but you know the guy and he was a very human guy sometimes he was a not nice guy but apparently nobody told the preacher because it sounds like the greatest man who ever lived is laying in that casket and you're just think thinking what is happening this is not true this guy is not the perfect guy you claim he is I know he's done evil things I know he's done hurtful things I know he's done mean things he's done them in front of me he's done them to me you just smoothed over all of that preached this guy into heaven then you around town the next day or week or month and everybody's just got blinders on they're looking at this guy through rose-colored glasses and this person who lived an evil life everybody seems to have forgotten ignored it where's the where's the outcome where's the punishment where's the the sentence that this guy deserved you know the author of Ecclesiastes paints that same picture in chapter 8 he says this isn't right his favorite word in this book is Vanity emptiness this doesn't matter doesn't make any sense it's nothing he goes on to say let's see if we can find it in uh verse number 12 though a sinner do evil a hundred times his days be prolonged verse number 11 the sentence against all evil works is not executed speedily we see people doing evil things and we wonder why is this not being punished why is God letting this happen happen what's going on uh verse 12 Again The Sinner do evil a 100 times his days be prolonged yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God which fear before him verse number 14 there is Vanity which is done upon the Earth that there be just men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of wicked he said hey there's good people and bad things happen to them the bad things that it seems like Wicked people deserve then he goes on in verse number 14 there be wicked men to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous I say that this also is Vanity empty looking around and I see good things happening to bad people bad things happening to good people and this doesn't seem right to me I don't understand why this is what we see if you're Generation X first of all you're the greatest Generation that's not true there's already a greatest Generation isn't there you're a really good Generation generation x and unless you grew up like Pastor ceron did you know of Transformers his dad preached against the Transformers the Transformers song I Won't sing it for you because I love you but it says Transformers more than meets the eye there's more going on than what we see there's more happening than what we notice with our own eyes uh Katie read it to you but I'll read it again Ecclesiastes chapter 8 verse number 16 when I applied Mine Heart To Know wisdom and to see the business that is done upon the Earth we have the wisest supernaturally wisest man who ever lived a king with all the wealth and power and authority that goes along with that title at peace time he said I spent my energy to try to figure out the business that's happening on the earth and he's talking about what God is doing upon the Earth for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes then I beheld all the work of God that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun because though a man labor to seek it out yet he shall not find it there's stuff happening everywhere all hours of the day the rich man who seems to have the Charmed Life and everything goes his way and he's got a horseshoe and you don't know what's happening in in his house you don't know what's happening in his heart you don't see everything the poor person who loves God and seems to always get the short end of the stick you don't know what's happening in their heart you don't know what God is using the hard things in their lives to draw them to him you have no idea I love the last part though A wise man think to know know it yet shall he not be able to find it you'll never know it uh it's a quote by somebody smarter than me and I'll probably butcher it but God's doing thousands of things all around us and we might be aware of eight you know and we're probably confused about those there's Great Value in realizing there's more going on than meets the eye God is doing things and we have no idea what he's doing so what are we supposed to do with that let's back up to verse 12 though a sinner do evil a 100 times and his days be prolonged yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God which fear before him but it shall not be well with the wicked neither shall he prolong his days which are as a shadow because he fear not before God these two verses teach this truth even Under the Sun remember Ecclesiastes is written considering what's happening down here not necessarily with an eternal perspective but even here on this Earth the people who fear God people who respect God who think he's real who are trying to obey him and follow his teachings and serve him the way he says to be served the people who fear God Live Well we have peace Beyond understanding we have joy when things aren't going right we have comfort that money can't buy and the rich person who doesn't fear God who appears to be comfortable the right says uh their life is like a shadow it's empty it's flat it's colorless it seems significant but there's nothing to it we have no idea what's going on anywhere else but we know that God says those that fear Him will live well so what do we do with that we live like we fear God I can't tell you how to get rich because I haven't figured it out you can become a children's pastor and uh your bills will be paid but I don't know how rich you'll get not complaining I'm paid way more than I'm worth way more but I don't know how to get rich I'm going to get a Big Mac after this that's not what rich people do $112 I think for a combo what was I saying oh yeah I can tell you how to live well fear God respect him believe that he's serious when he tells us to share the gospel to go and tell people about him to love other people the way we love ourselves to learn from him and become more like him and worship him and all the things that he's teaching us to do would you do me a favor and just stand right where you are bow your head we'll just take a moment to concentrate why would a group of missionaries travel so far for no guarantee of what was going to happen why would you drop your money in the offering plate when you can think of a million other ways to spend it why would you give up your Wednesday night why would you set your alarm clock an hour earlier than it needs to be set why would you talk to your neighbors about Jesus even though it makes you uncomfortable because if we fear God we can live well or you can keep trying to do it your own way and you can keep missing out on the peace and the comfort and the joy that he has for you you can't work that up yourself it's a supernatural gift from God now salvation's a separate thing if you've trusted him as your savior you're his and he's yours and nobody can ever take that away from you but if you want to live at peace with him that means you're going to have to spend your time obeying him and experiencing a relationship with him and the next time you feel discouraged because you see somebody that's apparently not doing that living so comfortably and well just remember you have no idea what's going on in that person's heart and how God's dealing with with them we'll take just a moment the altar is open you got something you need to hash out with God or something you want to say to him and the altar seems like the right place to do it you could come now dear heavenly father you're very good to us help us not forget that when we look around them and see what seems to be um Wicked Deeds working out well help us remember that you're a better father than that that you take care of your children and that you bless us and you draw us and you teach us and that honoring you and serving you is its own reward and drawing Close to You gives us the opportunity to experience joy and peace and comfort in a way we never could otherwise God help us be comfortable with the fact that we don't know everything that's going on but we serve a God who does in your name we pray amen Pastor Cameron uh can I throw one more curve ball without getting fired okay good deal uh Garrett core where's he at Garrett core uh today is Garrett's birthday is that true how old is Garrett today 18 so Garrett spent the week before his birthday going on a mission trip and then instead of staying home and have his parents spoil him on his 18th birthday he said no let's come to church so we can make big deal out of the mission trip that we had so I'm going to lead us and we're going to sing Happy Birthday to Garrett you guys I'm just joking I love you guys Savannah's gonna lead us as we sing happy birthday she's really excited about it I am it's gonna be great all right happy birthday to you woo happy birthday to you woo happy birthday dear G happy birthday to [Music] you and he's not embarrassed a bit at all it thank you Pastor Jeremy for the word tonight I think you can see how Pastor Jeremy is able to take some very profound truths and present them on children's level because that's about where most of our understanding is and he did that tonight for us us thank you for the vision for paloa and not just doing poooa but this year being a little ambitious in the spirit and saying Let's do let's do double the teams and um we were able to impact a lot more lives and I'm thankful uh this is just one of many ways that we are seeking to um have local hands and Global fingerprints the mission trips that we've done this year to various places each one has been unique each one has been a different format but it has reached people with the gospel and I'm thankful whether it's our mission trips whether it's patriotic explosion last week with those that heard the gospel whether it's the good news clubs that are going on all through the summer and the word is getting out God's spread God's message is being proclaimed and our desire is not just to be faithful as a church to the Great Commission it is to help provide opportunities for every one of you to be faithful to to your responsibility to the Great Commission and I'm thankful for each one that is having a part in these praise the Lord for that I did notice that when the Dunkin Donuts picture came up Pastor Chuck started salivating down the side of his face he was that was the original Duncan Donuts um do they still they don't call it Donuts anymore they just call it Duncan don't they they took the donuts off it's still they still have the donuts though Pastor Chuck knows all about it he's got the he's got the menu memorized I believe thank you each one that went on this trip um I appreciate each of you taking your time to go God will use the gospel seeds that you swed this week and we praise the Lord for the souls that were saved church thank you for being a part of supporting them praying for them encouraging them and giving so that they can be able to go and that's our that's our gospel task and we want to be faithful to it speaking of giving the ushers are at the back if you have offering tonight and would like to give um you can give to the men standing at the back ready to receive the offering God bless you have a great night and Lord will and we'll be together Sunday morning