The Invisible Hand

[Music] Thank you. [Music] Foreign. [Music] [Music] Foreign. [Music] [Music] [Music] Foreign. [Music] [Music] [Music] Foreign. [Music] [Music] Foreign. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Foreign. Foreign. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Foreign. Foreign. [Music] [Music] [Music] Foreign. [Music] [Music] [Music] Foreign. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] One and Day Spring. Oh, we should be excited about being here this morning. Recognize what God has brought it from. We should be able to sit like David said, "I will bless the Lord at all times, and his praise shall continually be in my mouth." Come on and magnify the Lord with me. Let us exalt his name together as we celebrate the rivers of God's love, his grace, his mercies at a new day by day. Amen. Bring us on and praise him. We come to bless your name this morning, Lord. We come to say thank you, God, for your river of goodness, of joy, [Music] of grace. [Music] There is a river where goodness flows. There is, there is. [Music] Fishing. First, we come alive in the river again. [Music] [Music] Come on, let's put our hands together for the Lord this morning. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Of Heaven. [Music] [Music] We come alive in the river. We come alive in the river again. Come alive in the river. [Music] We come alive. [Music] Break open prison doors. [Music] That all the captives free. Yes. [Music] [Music] [Music] Foreign. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Over here. Waist deep. All the way in. Not just ankles deep. Waist deep. Far away. [Music] Steep. All the way in. We're going all the ways. [Music] Foreign. [Music] [Music] [Music] Deep. Wasting all the way. [Music] Deep. All the way. [Music] Speed. All the way. We're going all the way. [Music] Going all the way. [Music] [Music] [Music] We come alive in the river. [Music] Oh yeah. [Music] [Music] Can we just posture ourselves for worship? [Music] All of this is about you. [Music] On Christ alone, our chief cornerstone. [Music] No other foundation we build upon, not philosophy, nor the wisdom of man. [Music] Is sinking sand. And upon this rock, you build a billion your church, and the gates of hell will not prevail. [Music] When we bind and loose, we proclaim your truth, and in Jesus' name, we will not fail. We'll never fail. [Music] If I raise the from the dead, that captivity, cap it is the keys, his authority. [Music] To the praise. [Music] The gates of hell will not breathe your truth upon this. [Music] [Applause] Refined and lose. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Foreign. [Music] [Music] [Music] Come on. [Music] Foreign. [Music] [Music] Don't feel yourself. [Music] [Music] From the ground. Church and kill yourself. [Music] [Music] [Music] And in Jesus' name, fail. Singapore. This rock, you build your church, and the gates. [Music] [Music] [Music] Foreign. [Music] [Music] [Music] Goodbye. 's rock, you build your church, and the gates. [Applause] [Music] We proclaim your hand. In Jesus' name, we will not bed. In Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. [Music] Is. [Music] Declare that really quick. In Jesus' name. [Music] In Jesus' name. In Jesus. Jesus' name. [Music] In Jesus. Say in Jesus. Jesus' name. In Jesus. Jesus' name. We will not fail. [Music] Oh, now upon this rock, upon this rock, upon the word of God, he's gonna build his church. Amen. And you can't get an ankle deep, right? You can't go ways deep, but you gotta go all the way. And if you want to come alive, that's the body of Christ. So you got to know this word. You gotta have it in your heart. So the rivers of God can flow in and through you and bless all those around you. Amen. Upon this rock. Hallelujah. Thank you. I am so thankful to be in the presence this morning. You may be seated. Amen. Hallelujah. We're going to come to you with some word from the word. Amen. From the Book of Ruth, the first chapter, 16th and 17th verse. Put my eyes on here. Amen. Amen. And it says, "But Ruth said, 'Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.'" Amen. Let us pray. God, our Father, again, we're so thankful, Father, in your presence. God, whose all hearts opened, all minds and thoughts are known. We come humbly before you, Lord. Our cares, our concerns, our words at your feet this morning, so we can lay down these burdens, so that Father, as your word comes forth from our speaker of the hour, that our hearts, Father God, may be open to you, that our minds and our understanding may be under, may be clear to you, heavenly Father, so we can go forth and do the things that you've called for us to do, so we can ask, so the doors shall be open, so we seek that you, so that we truly can find, find your heart, find your will, find your way. For we recognize that we're here because you have a purpose and a plan for each and every one of us, and we pray that their purpose and plan comes clear as your word comes forth. That as we hear that word, we leave here, Father, asking, "What must we do to be better? What must we do to be changed? What must we do, Father, to Father, draw closer to you?" So Father, we can do your will and your way. So upon this rock, your church may be built. It's in Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Amen. Well, again, good morning, Day Spring, to all those who are present in the building. Amen. For those who are with us online, we are so thankful that you are here. Recognizing the fact that you could have been so many other places, but you chose to be with us, and we recognize this is a buying appointment because we pray for this reason. We pray not only for this reason, we pray that God's word would go far beyond through our online ministries. So we are so thankful that you're here. And if you're here with us for the very first time, what I'd like you to do, which is new in the church, obviously, in this day and age, take out your phones and text "Welcome" to 717-939-9500. Those of you online, text "Welcome" to 717-939-99500. When you get a digital connect card, because we want to definitely be able to connect with you and share the love of Christ with you. Now, for those of you who are in the sanctuary, if you're here for the first time, we want you to raise your hand. And I can ask you to see anything when I can ask you to. Amen. Some cup of family over here. We want to just share a little gift with you so we can, we can again extend the love of Christ to you. And I pray that you are blessed by what you see and hear in this service today. Amen. Amen. A few announcements for us this morning. Uh, for our wonderful children, children's instead of ministries are open today for our preschool and elementary kids. You can drop your kids off in our children and student ministry area so that they can bless. I know a lot of the kids are always excited by going over to CSM. Now, for those of you who have a heart for kids, CSM is always looking for wonderful volunteers to come back there and help with training our kids. We knew that our children are our future. Want to start singing with me? Amen. Uh, we'll see in my lane, but but we know that our children really are our future. We want to make sure we pour into them what God has poured into us. So if you have a heart for our kids, uh, please, uh, sign up. Go to the back as well. You can sign up with our children and student ministry and let them know that you're here to assist, and they'll walk you through the process of how you can join in. Uh, I know we've talked a lot about our fall institute classes. They are coming. So next week, you'll be able to sign up for our classes. I'll be looking for an email this week with the list of classes and to tell you how you can actually, uh, sign up and join. Um, but again, so again, be looking for that information. All about men, uh, how many of you are familiar with our Mighty Men of Valor conference? Amen. All right, all right, all right. I want you to make sure you're marking your calendars for November 11th and 12th at First Baptist Church of the Norton. Uh, you have an opportunity to get a group rate if you sign up with us, and we'll pay as a group. That group rate is going to be six dollars, but we need you to, to text, uh, MVM 2022 to what? 717-939-9500. Uh, amen. I know somebody remembered it, but we want to make sure you text, but not only text, but want to make sure you also pay. You can pay via cash, uh, check the Day Spring Ministries, or be a cash app. And if you do cash out, the game, remember put your name and what it's for. That is for MBM 2022, so we can make sure we get you on the list, because just texting doesn't do it. You got to text and hey, amen. You're not confirmed to tell you what? Yeah, you pay. All right, I just want to make sure that was clear for everybody. Amen. This month, we've been reading a book, uh, by Tom S. Raymond, the book "I Will." How many of you have read that book and have been blessed by it? Amen. Just a handful. All right. For the rest of you who have not read the book, I really would encourage you to read the book because it has some very insightful information, and it's an opportunity to really do a heart check. Amen. To really find out, are you where you need to be in the body of Christ? We've said that we are a church member, we said that we are part of Day Spring Ministries, or online, wherever you may be joining, that we said that you were part of the body of Christ, but are you doing the things that really somebody who's grateful for what God has done for you would it pitify? Which are you showing that example? So if you're not, this is just a wonderful opportunity for when you read this book to really share what God is doing for your life. And if you have read it and have some insights on how you want to get better, improved, uh, Miss, our Dr. Paula Johnson has sent out some information. Amen. And use her right title and send us some information how you can give us, uh, some, uh, video testimonies to share what God has said to you through this book. Amen. Um, and last but not least, again, our pantry is open today. So if you have a need, make sure, amen, that's Morgan back in the back. She's excited. Amen. So if you have a need, if you know somebody with a need, so remember this is really in the house or outside of the house. We really want to make sure that you take use of the pantry. Don't suffer in silence. Amen. Because that's, that's nothing but pride. Amen. Don't suffer in silence. All right. There's another opportunity in our service where everybody can take part. This is our offering time. Amen. How many of you excited about what God has done for you through his blessings and his resources? Amen. You know, because again, you know, it's really about that God is really focused on our attitudes. Amen. Because God, Paul said in second Corinthians, "What God loves a cheerful giver." Amen. So we're not talking about giving grudgingly, but you know, if God's done anything for you, if God has increased your resources in any way, all he's doing is said, "Hey, manage it as a steward of my blessings and give back to the body of Christ so that we can be built, blessing to somebody else." Amen. So yeah, five ways appear that that you can give. Either through our website, you can click on the give button, either text to 84321, the prompts will kind of help you along the way. You can go to the Church Center app and look, find Day Spring Ministries. Also, again, we talked about cash app, so you cash out to dollar sign Day Spring DSM. And again, as I always like to say, put your full government name in the notes so we know who gave and, uh, of course, the fund that you want to give to. And of course, you can always mail. And for those who are in the house, if you aren't comfortable in one of those five ways, the ushers are around. You can get, get an envelope and you can place your offering in the offering envelopes and drop them in the receptacles either the back of the church or at the entrance so that you can be able to take part as well. Amen. Amen. Let us pray. God, our Father, we're so thankful, Father, for the blessings that you have provided us. And I just pray, Father, over this offering that as your Father, you allowed to do what you set it out to do. And Father, bless those who had a heart to give, uh, so that Father, they can see, Father, your hand and work in their lives. So in Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Amen. Now, moving to a special time in our service, and, uh, this is what we want to dedicate a few of our wonderful infants. Amen. Amen. All right, good morning. We want, we want to invite the parents, the godparents, and grandparents of Zion Casting up towards the front, and also for McKenzie Piper, up to the front. Could you come up here to the front of the church? Amen. [Applause] Y'all just come line up right, right along right here. Put, put value in front and center as he got his outfit on. I said, y'all got his outfit on here, real clear. Y'all step down a little bit. Well, the grandparents and godparents for Zion, y'all come on this side over here. Amen. You stay right in the middle. Y'all stay in the middle. Y'all stay in the middle. And with McKenzie at. Can we give God some praise for him as they come? Amen. [Applause] You're, y'all all right right there? Yep. Ray McKenzie in right here. She got something right there. There you go. It's okay. It's okay. McKenzie, I know you're not shy with me. Children are a blessing from the Lord. Amen. And so what, what we, what we don't do is we don't baptize children. The scripture lets us know in Mark that they must first come to what? Believe and then be baptized. But what we do is we pray a prayer of dedication over them and we give them back to the Lord what the Lord has given to us. And so we got McKenzie here today. McKenzie, can I get some love today? [Chuckles] Don't carry me in front of everybody. McKenzie. No meals at all. You stay right here. You stay right here. Look, look at everybody. Look at everybody so everybody can see how beautiful y'all cause you're not shy. We know McKenzie, you're not shy. Y'all, y'all see McKenzie. She is wonderful. McKenzie, if you do not know, McKenzie is a live wire. She is, but she's a blessing. Beautiful. You stand right here. Pastor James, they got my main man. He made me go put a suit on this morning. You know, you, you know, you got me dressed this way this morning, right? All right. I still remember how to do this. Y'all, y'all look at Zion right here. Children are a blessing for the Lord. We thank God for McKenzie and we thank God for Zion. Communicants, come here. Come on over here. I got you. I got you. McKenzie, you're not shy. Stop playing. Let's pray. Father, we, uh, we thank you for Zion and we thank you for McKenzie. Father, we, we pray a hedge of protection around them. God, we give back to you what you have given to us right now. We pray right now, God, that you will order their steps from this day forth, right now, that you would use them for your honor and for your glory, that you keep a hedge of protection around them, that you allow no hurt, harm, or danger to come upon them, that you would keep them from drugs, that you would keep them from alcohol, that you would keep them from being promiscuous right now in the name of Jesus, and that they will become catalysts, that they will be agents of change. And God, that you would use them in a mighty way. Spirit of the Living God, we fall fresh on them right now, Father, and we offer them to you, Father. Now, Father, you have your way and you do only what you're able to do, you because you've ordered their steps. Let them walk into the purpose, into the anointing, into the call that you have on their life, and we thank you for them right now. It's in Jesus' name. Amen. Can we give God some praise? Thank you. All right. Uh, the scripture says in Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child into which way they should go, and when they get old, they will not depart." Yeah, man. You are the head of this household. You are the thermostat, and your family is the thermometer. Where you set the house at, the house will register. If you want them hot for God, you be hot for God. If you want God to use them, do you allow God to use you? You set the tone for the house. I don't give them back to her mother. I'm giving her him back to you because he's your responsibility. Thank you. Same thing right here. Same thing right here. Daddy's girl. All right. You are the thermometer, the thermostat. The family is the thermometer. What you set at, they will register. What you do in moderation, they will do in excess. Remember that. All right. We got a gift for the both of you. Everybody say 936. Let's say it again. 936. We have our children for 930, 36 weeks. That is 52 times 18. What we're giving you today is we have a bag of what we call Legacy marbles that are here. It's 936 of them for each week of his life. You take a marble and you move it over. At nine years old, he'll be halfway through. When he turns 18, you'll move the last marble over, and it's time for him to go. Amen. Amen. The same thing for McKenzie. She's got more marbles over. The count of these weeks out. So I just want to let you know that this was hard math. The same thing for her. Each week of her life, we'll marvel over. Leave this on your mantle as a reminder. You can get another jar of clear wood and put it over. But each week as you're moving them over, it's just a reminder to you that time is ticking, and before you know it, you'll move the last marble, and she'll be going to school, gainfully employed, prayerfully out of your house. I said, prayerfully. Amen. We gave you a certificate also for you and remembrance of everything. All right. Certificate also for you. Bella, did you get a good picture? Get a good picture for. Slide that. Slide. Y'all slide it a little bit. Let me, let me just smile. Just look. We look good. Hey, McKenzie, look, look. Development. Miss Bella right there. Turn that way. Other way. There you go. [Music] All right. All right. Let me slightly. Let me start over. Y'all made me put a suit on the day. Can we give them a hand? Amen. God bless y'all. Thank y'all. Thank y'all for coming up. Amen. Y'all good. He just, he just chilling right. He just laying right there. That's the good life. All right. All right. Y'all ready for the word? I said, are y'all ready for the word? Y'all, y'all don't sound like y'all ready for the word. Are y'all ready for the word? Have a treat for you this morning. I'm excited. Um, for this young lady. This one to come and she's going to minister the gospel to you guys on this morning. Her name is none other than our very own Renee Butler. She's coming and she's bringing the word this morning. She is one of our ministers in training here at the spring. She has done everything that I have asked her to do. I'm honoring her today for her faithfulness. Amen. Hold on. Wait before you clap. You'll understand. You understand. Uh, I've been preaching, I think, remember, we look, it's about 30, 33, 34 years I've been preaching. Um, Renee has done what I, my pastor asked me. My pastor asked me, Pastor John Jenkins, asked me to turn in the outline. He asked the whole ministry of staff to turn in the outline every week of what you're preaching, what you're working on. And, um, and folks got mad because he was asking me to preach. And so he came to a meeting. He said, "Why are you letting him preach so much?" He says, "Well, he turns me outlined in every." He said, "When did you turn that outline in?" And they just, they didn't have anything to say. Here's what you have to do. You have to be faithful over the little things in order for God to be a ruler over many. Amen. She has been faithful. She's been turning out lines to me today. And I did not want this time to go by without you hearing from her this morning. And the message that God has given to her this morning. Okay? So y'all point your hands in this direction and we pray. Say, "Lord, use Renee in a mighty way." It's in Jesus' name. Amen. So the next voice that you will hear after the selection from our praise team will be none other than Minister in Training Renee Butler. And make sure that we receive her. Amen. [Music] Thank you. [Music] Exceed abundantly above all you could ask or think, according to the power. [Music] That worketh if in you. [Music] God is able to do just what he said he would, and he's gonna fulfill every promise. Don't give up on God, 'cause he won't give up on you. Isn't people. [Music] Help me sleep. [Music] We'll see. Come missing God. God is able to do just what he said he would do. He's gone. [Music] To you. [Music] She won't give up. Everybody. [Music] [Music] He is able. [Music] Come on, if you believe. [Music] [Applause] Thank you. [Music] Here we go. [Music] Foreign. [Music] [Music] [Music] He's able. [Music] [Music] His baby. [Music] [Music] He's able to. [Music] Don't give up. Won't give up on God. You won't give up. I won't give up 'cause he won't give up. Can't wait to see. Don't give up on God. Don't give up on God. [Music] If you believe it this morning, come on, if you believe that he's able to do exceeding abundantly above all you can ever ask for me. Every word that you break, he's gonna double it. [Music] I know you're right. You're able to do just what you said. [Music] And you're gonna fulfill every promise. To begin, that's why I won't give up on God, 'cause he never gave up on me. That's how I know your rainbow. [Music] Foreign. [Music] [Music] Go ahead and give him some praise. He's able. Oh, you guys bless me. He's able. This morning, I am living proof that God is able to anything. I mean, anything. He's able. He's able. Thank you guys. Well, good morning, good morning, Day Spring. Again, my name is Renee Butler, and I am one of the ministers in training here. And I just want to thank our founding pastor, Pastor Cliff and Audrey, for planting this wonderful ministry, for being obedient and and stepping out and trusting God. I want to thank God for them and for their lives and for their sacrifice and for their love. And I want to thank God too for Pastor Godlock and for those words. Thank you so much for [Music] just allowing me to have this opportunity. Thank you. Thank you for your encouragement and thank you too for your patience. Thank you so much. Well, many years, my, this is an amazing ministry, and I'm excited to be able to share with you this morning from The Book of Ruth. And the title of my message this morning is "The Invisible Hand." I also want to thank my daughter too, if she's here, Jasmine. I want to thank God for her too. I don't want to forget about you. I didn't know if you were here, but I want to thank you for hanging in there with me too. Things have not always been good, but God has blessed us to be able to be where we are today. Amen. In our relationship, and it's only God. It's his invisible hand, Jasmine. His invisible hand. [Music] I want to read from Ruth chapter 1, verse 16 and 17. Again, it says, "But Ruth said, 'Entreat me not to leave you or to turn back from you from following after you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.'" There's a quote that I love. It's by Henry Ward Beecher, and then it says this: "Someone has said that in war, Providence, God's invisible hand, is on the side of the strongest regiment." And I have noted that noted that Providence, God's invisible hand, is on the side of clear heads and honest hearts. And whenever a man or a woman walks faithfully in the ways that God has marked out for him or her, Providence, God's invisible hand, as the Christian says, or luck, as the world says, will be on that man or that woman's side. In the long run, you'll find that God's Providence, God's invisible hand, is in favor of those who keep his word, and against those who are breaking his word." There's a problem with that, uh, quote that I notice. He talks about luck. Luck always runs out. You ever notice that? Luck is short. It doesn't stay long. Doesn't hang out. It comes and it goes. But God promised that he would never, ever, ever, ever, ever leave us or forsake us. He promised to always be with us and be by our side. It's God's invisible hand. I just want you to focus on that one thing. God's invisible hand is always working behind the scenes. Always. We always see his hand working behind the scenes. And I want to talk about three things regarding the Book of Ruth. I want to talk about Ruth as a woman. I want to talk about Ruth as a widow. And I want to talk about Ruth as having woo, and I'll explain what that means later. But I want to share first some of the background in Ruth. How many people have read through the Book of Ruth before? You're super familiar? Oh, just about everybody. That's good. Well, Ruth here is in this story, and she is the main character. This is one of two books in the Bible that's written by, by a woman, named after a woman. And we know the Spirit of God is the one who writes and inspires the word of God. Chapter 1, verse 1, says, "And through five," it says, "Now it came to pass in the days when the judges rule." I'll just give you some background if you haven't read that. There was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, and he and his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech, and his wife's name was Naomi. The name of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, of Ephrath of Bethlehem, Judah, and they went to the country of Moab and remained there. Then Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left and her two sons. Now they took two wives of the women of Moab. Moab, the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other, Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years. Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died. So the woman survived her two sons." I want to talk about verse 16, because after the death of their husbands, Naomi's husband, she was distraught. But I want to talk about Ruth, the woman. Ruth, the woman. You know, Ruth was there in verse 16, entreating Naomi because three of the women now are without husbands and they are alone. And Naomi decided that she was going to go back to her hometown in Bethlehem. And she told Orpah and Ruth, "Look, y'all stay here. Don't follow me. I don't have any husbands for you. I don't have anything to offer you. I can't protect you. I can't help you. I can't feed you. Stay here with your family. Stay here with your parents in Moab." And Orpah decided, "You know what? I'ma do just that. I'm gonna go back home." But Ruth said, "Entreat me not to leave you." She said, "Please." That word, "entreat," she was pleading and begging her, "Don't let me leave you. Don't make me leave you. Don't make me leave you." I can identify with Ruth as a woman. Ruth was sensitive. She was caring. And you know, as women, we are. We're nurturers. Amen. We take care of things. We work a full-time job, and then we come home, we take care of our husbands at night, or our kids, or our family. We go the extra mile. We sacrifice. We do whatever it takes. We go wherever we have to go to take care of business at home and of ourselves. We work hard, and we're faithful. Amen. We are women. We are tough. We are strong. And not too much we can't do. God is able to keep us and help us, and he made us this way. He didn't make us any other way. This is how he made us. And I, I can so identify with Ruth. I remember when our son Jonathan was born, and he had a 50% chance of living. That's what the doctors told me. And they told me, "Just go home. Don't worry about it. Just relax." And I'm thinking, "Relax? Go home and relax?" But they said, "Listen, there's not too much to do. Don't worry. You can't help him." So I came to the hospital every single day. I nursed him every day, and I stayed there until they put him to bed at night. And the doctors got tired of me. They said, "Look, we'll let you take him home. We'll tell you what the regimen is for his medications. You follow it. If you have any questions, give us a call." So I did that, and Jonathan is celebrating his 34th birthday. I'm telling you, God's invisible hand is always working behind the scenes. Let me tell you about Jasmine. Jasmine was born with no movement in her right arm at all. And the doctors again told me, "Listen, go home. Don't call a physical therapist. Paula, don't call nobody. Don't try to fix her arm. Don't, don't do anything. Just go home and do the best you can with her. Just love her, care for her, you know, and just play with her." So I go home and I tell my mother what happened. My mother gives me a list of exercises and she said, "Do these things, and she'll be okay." So I said, "She doesn't know what she's talking about. She's a special reading teacher. What does she know about medicine? And what does she know about therapy?" So I wrote down what she told me so she wouldn't fuss at me. I wrote down what she told me and I put it on the side, and I went to the occupational therapist and I took her anyway because I wanted her to get some help for that arm. The occupational therapist gave me the exact same exercises my mother gave me. And today, Jasmine is right-handed and she plays tennis with her right arm. I'm telling you, God's invisible hand is always working behind the scenes. And you know, my husband, Walt, some of you do, and you know, he struggled with congestive heart failure. He died and came, they brought him back. And the doctor told me, "Listen, go home. There's nothing else we can do. We've run every single test we could run on him. We have nothing else that we can do for him." And I cried out to the Lord, and the Lord really laid on my heart, Johns Hopkins. I thought, "I don't know that much about that hospital." So I called them, and they said, "Yeah, you can transfer him over here." So the doctor was angry with me, and he told the hospital that I was challenging his authority and told them that I was disrespecting him. But I told him, "Transfer my husband to Johns Hopkins Hospital right now, and you're going to pay for it." I got some wise counsel, and they told me, "You can do it." So I did it. And he got to that hospital, they rolled out the red carpet for him, did the exams, he had his surgery the next morning, and two hours later, he was up walking around and had pancakes and bacon for breakfast. God's invisible hand is always working behind the scenes. Now, you guys might not remember this slap. Y'all might remember Chris Rock's slap, but I remember Magic Johnson and Cookie Johnson more than I remember anything else. I remember when he came home. Do you guys remember that? When he told her that he was HIV positive, right? What did she do? She slapped the daylight. She slapped him because he told her, "Why don't you just go ahead and leave? Just leave. You don't have to stay with me. I mean, I messed up. Just go ahead and leave." And she slapped him because she wanted to keep her vows, she wanted to stay with her husband and help him and support him. I read an article last week that they did on Magic Johnson, and he said this: "He said, 'I contribute my success today to Cookie Johnson, my wife, because of her love, her support, and her encouragement, and she stayed with me.'" He said, "I would be dead today if it wasn't for her." So he didn't contribute his success to his basketball career. He didn't contribute his success to his championships. He contributed it to the faithfulness of his wife. Now, I know who's in this room, and I know who's online watching YouTube. I know there's some ladies that if you were married to Magic Johnson and he came home and told you that, some of you would have taken a baseball bat, knocked out the front windshield, the back windshield, both sides of the car, next slashed his tires, and then cracked the window, maybe drop a little match in there so it blew up, and you would have been waiting to exhale. You would not have, you would have been waiting to exhale. And you might have gone down to his job the next day just to talk about him out loud, out in front of the baker's office, or walk the halls and talk about him. Or you would have laid him out for embarrassing you and shaming you. You would have fussed him out, cussed him out, and you would have told him some new and old information about himself. You would have done it, just as sure as my name is what it is. And I know probably before Christ, I might have held your back. How about that? That would have held your bed. But Cookie was faithful. She was the kind of woman who was going to stand with him in spite of what he's gone through. What kind of woman are you? What kind of woman are you? Would you stay? Would you stand? Or would you give him a forwarding address and dare him to use it? What would you do? That's a question. What would you do? My second point, I want to talk about is Ruth, the widow. Ruth was without her husband now, and she's only been married to him for about 10 years. That's as long as she had him. That's a very short period of time. And now she has no security, she has no companionship, she has no one to protect her, and she has no hope of of getting a provision or being fed. She had to rely on her husband. That's what they did then. They relied completely on their husbands. So she is alone. [Music] She's alone. Being a widow is a very challenging situation. Now, for them, they didn't have insurance policies, they didn't have pensions, they didn't have 401ks, they didn't have savings plans, didn't have any of that. They didn't have Medicaid, they didn't have, they didn't have anything. All they had was each other. I can so identify with Ruth. I am a widow now. My husband, for three years, he went home to be with the Lord in 2019. I remember the day that I went to upstairs to our bedroom. Jasmine was on her way back with our grandson, Chase. And I went to wake him up, and I couldn't wake him up. And I felt him, and he was cold. I called 911 immediately, and they told me, "Ma'am, stop trying. Please stop trying." And I hit my knees and I cried. I wasn't ready. I wasn't prepared. And I didn't know what to do next. So I cried out to the Lord, and I said, "Lord, what do I do now?" And I could hear his still small voice. He said, "Lift your hands. Give me thanks and give me praise. I still have purpose for you. Lift your hands and give me praise and give me thanks. I still have purpose for you. I still have purpose for you." And so that's what I did. Naomi, though, when she found out that Elimelech was dead, she became bitter. She was mad at God. She was mad at him. She was angry that he would take her husband. So she said, "My name means pleasant, but don't call me that. Call me Mara." Psalm 68:5-6 says, and I'll read that for you. He says, "He is a father to the fatherless and a husband to the husbandless." People were telling me, "Oh, you're single now. You are single, single, single." And I thought, "Oh, that's right. I am." But then I realized when I went to the word, "No, I'm not. I have a husband. His name is Jesus. I am not alone. I am not by myself. He is with me, and he is my provider." And so I'm going to continue to depend on him. But it's a, it's a really interesting experience because we expect to live, and we expect our spouses to live forever. We don't really believe the word of God when he says tomorrow is not promised. Tomorrow, you could wake up, and the person that you love would be gone. Are you ready for that? Are you prepared for that? Have you gotten yourself together? Do you know how you're going to be able to stand? What are you going to do? Who are you going to call? Where's your help going to come from? Well, I tell you, I love this illustration. But someone asked me right after Walt passed, when I came to church that Sunday, they said, "What is it like? You don't have your husband?" I said, "I miss him like nobody's business. I miss that man. I miss him." But I looked at my marriage like an ice cream sundae. I have a lot of ice cream. I have sprinkles, and I have caramel sauce, and then I have this cherry on the top. My ice cream is my relationship with God. God's been faithful to me. I trust him. I love him. I fall down, I get back up. He helps me. He strengthens me. He guides me, and he teaches me by his spirit. I have lots of ice cream. I can depend on him. And then I have this cherry on the top, and that's Walt. See, I didn't worship my husband. I didn't worship him. He was not my God. He was not my God. But he was my husband and my best friend, my best and closest friend. But he was not my God. So when God took him home, and he belonged to him, I could still depend on my. I had ice cream. I stood all this ice cream. I had my relationship with God. That was still intact. What would you do? How's your, how's your marriage? Is your marriage like an ice cream sundae, or is it upside down? Is Jesus the cherry on the top, and your husband's ice cream? Your family's the cherry on the top, or are they the ice cream? Your job, cherry on the top? What ice cream? Who are you depending on? Who are you relying on? Who are you leaning on? God is always working. His invisible hand, I'm telling you, is always working behind the scenes. God provided for me. My husband took care of business and he handled things, and so I didn't have to worry about anything. I'm so grateful. But God is always working in our behalf. Thank you, Lord. I'm just so grateful. I am just so grateful because it could have been different. I could have ended up like Ruth, who had no one. I'm grateful for God's invisible hand and for how she served and for how she served Naomi. There is a, a movie called "The Help." How many people saw that movie? Well, the actress Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer, you know, those two that were in the movie, great actresses, great actresses. Well, while they were going through the movie and and rehearsing and practicing, they became really good friends. And Octavia shared with Jessica, "What are you making?" "He's sick." "That's all you making?" "Yeah." "Isn't that what you making?" "No." So Octavia began to share with her, "Well, I'm not surprised because women of color who are in Hollywood and who are making movies, they don't make as much as everybody else does." So Jessica said, "Listen, let me look at your contract." She reviewed it and found out there was a little writer in some language that was missing in her contract. Check that out. Some language that was missing in her contract. And she said, "You know what? Here's what we're going to do. You and I are going to be tied together. You and I are going to be tied together. I'm going through your contract with you. You're going to go back and renegotiate it." And she did just that, and she came back, and she was making five times the salary she was making before. Five times the salary that she was making before. Here's what Octavia said about Jessica: "She took up my cause and made it her own. She took up my cause and made it her own." Whose cause are you taking up? Who are you dying for? Who you sacrificing for? Who are you laying your life down for? Who are you standing for? Who are you willing to be an advocate for? Who are you willing to go to bat for? Or is it just all about you and what you want, what you want to get? Who are you standing for? Yeah. Well, later, we know that Boaz marries Ruth. Sees her while she's working. Sees her while she is out in the field working. He pays attention to this young woman who is now moved from her hometown, Moab, to Bethlehem, and he's watching her, and his eye is on her. And in Ruth 2, chapter 8 through 10, verses 8 through 10, it says, "Then Boaz said to Ruth, 'You will listen, my daughter. Will you not? Do not glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by my young women. Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Have I not commanded you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.' So she fell on her face and bowed down to the ground, and said to him, 'Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?'" Ruth has what we call woo. Anybody ever heard of woo? You have good, good. Woo is a natural talent that that you have. It's a natural talent that draws other people to you. It's not a spiritual gift. We have spiritual gifts, but woo is something that they came up with a few years ago, well, about 10, 15 years ago. I think there's an organization called Gallup, and they did some research over 40 years and they found out that there are 34 strengths that are present in the lives of every person across the country. They don't have all 34, but there are 34 amongst the population. And they encourage you to get your top five strengths to make sure that you hone in on those top five strengths. It's a wonderful, wonderful book. If you, if we're going to be able to go through that, Pastor Godlock is going to walk the church through it, so please don't miss it when he brings that study here. But I had the privilege of working at a bank, and they decided to take a small group of us and try out this strength finder thing to see if it really worked. And it worked. My top five strengths are belief. That means I believe when I believe, I'm like a dog with a bone. You can't separate me. You can't persuade me. My second belief, my second strength is developer. I love to develop women and help them reach their full potential. That's what I

I love to do. My third strength is connectedness. That means I love to connect people with resources, people with jobs. I love doing that. My fourth strength is responsibility. When I'm in a ministry or I work on my job, I take it as a business. I take it as my own, and I take responsibility for the failures, for the good, bad, and ugly in it. I take it upon myself because I'm high responsibility. As my old manager used to say, "High responsibility, high care."

And the fifth is woo. Woo is a strength that you you have that where you love to enter interact with people you've never met. A stranger, as Cheryl Hicks would always tell me, "I've never met a stranger." But you're always meeting people and connecting with people, and you're always trying to find ways to make sure they get heard. But you're able to just talk to anybody that you come in contact with. And so that's what Woo is. That's what it is. And I can't wait until you guys find out your strengths, and I can't wait to learn yours.

But Ruth had woo. She was working out in the field. Boaz spotted her. She interacted with him. She gained favor with him because that was just a natural strength for her. That was just something that she did well. Later, he married her and provided security for Ruth and for Naomi. Became their protection and blessed their lives. And Ruth went on to not only get a husband, she had a child. She became the great-grandmother of David, man after God's own heart, and an ancestor of Jesus Christ.

Her faithfulness, God's invisible hand was working in her life, working behind the scenes while she was being faithful to serve her mother-in-law, while she was being faithful to work hard out in that field, while she was being faithful to go out in the sun and glean and and grab up grain and carry those 10, 20 pound bags and walk a mile or two miles to get back home and do that every single day. She was faithful. I have a hard time carrying my groceries from my truck to the front door of my apartment, but she was faithful. And she didn't mind. She was faithful to the end.

Well, I tell you, the only reason I'm here is not because I am perfect. It's not because I'm a great preacher. It's not because I have anything special. I have nothing special. I have nothing different from you. I am here like Ruth. I am a woman because of God's invisible hand working behind the scenes in my life. I am a widow like Ruth because of God's invisible hand at work in my life. And I have woo, natural strength that he gave me because God's invisible hand working in my life never stops. He continues to work, and he continues to work. He doesn't care about your circumstances. He doesn't care what you're going what you're going through, what you've been through, what you've had to experience. He can work in your life because it's His invisible hand.

Do you see God's invisible hand at work in your life? Can you point back to your circumstances and see where He was working in your behalf? Can you see that? Can you see that? I want to give an altar call right now. And um, I want to share with you about something called the Ketubah. The Ketubah was part of the Jewish civil law, and it was a marriage document. And it was a document that would list the husband, the future husband's duties, his rights, and it would list his responsibilities. All the things that he was going to provide, all the things that he was going to do for his future wife, all the things that he was going to do to protect her and make sure that she had the kind of home that she needed to have. All of it was laid out in this document called the Ketubah. The only person that signs the Ketubah are the witnesses and the husband, saying that I will and I promise to do everything that I wrote down here. I'm gonna do it.

Well, we have something 100 times better than that. We have a wonderful husband named Jesus Christ. We have a God who loves us. Who's our bride, He's our husband. Men, He's our bridegroom, and we are His bride. And we belong to Him. We're His. We don't have this little short document that has this little small list of duties He's going to do and this just a couple of responsibilities He's going to do. And the Ketubah also says it's going to pay money just in case I divorce you, I'm gonna give you some money so you'll be okay. Oh no, God didn't provide that for us. God gave us His Word. He gave us 66 books filled with over 7,000 promises that He's made to us. And He will break none of them. He's not going to pay money and give us money because He wants to get rid of us or He's tired of us and He's tired of our sin. He promised to never, no, never, no, never, no, never leave us. He will always be with us. He provided that, and it's in 66 books. Gosh, we've got a faithful God, y'all. We serve a faithful God. And He will stop at nothing to make sure that we have a relationship with Him. He wants us. He wants us to come to Him.

The other thing about the Ketubah is that though the man and the witnesses sign it, the woman never signs it. You know what she does? All she does is say thank you, and she receives it. And that's what the Lord Jesus Christ wants us to do, to just receive the gift that He's given to us. He's provided salvation. He's given us Himself. He's died on the cross for us. He was crucified, shed His blood so that we wouldn't have to worry about anything. We'd have liberty in Him, that we would be free to have this relationship and enjoy Him forever. Forever. And He's not going to kick us out and pay us some money and tell us to go take a hike. He's going to stay and remain.

I love Him. I love Him. Do you love Him? I love Him. I love what He's done for us. If anybody is here and you have never acknowledged Christ, you didn't know that He was your bridegroom, you didn't know that He made promises to you, you didn't know that He's not expecting anything from you. You can't give Him nothing. He's God. You don't have to earn His love or His salvation. He said, "Just receive the gift that I'm giving to you. I laid my life down for you. I'm giving you everything that you need. I'm providing for your future. I'm providing for your today. I'll heal your body when you're sick. I'll encourage you when you are down. I'll strengthen you when you are weak. And when you're in danger, I'll stand toe-to-toe with it. You don't have to worry about it. I'll be your God and your Savior and your Redeemer. I'll be your husband. Just receive me. Just take the gift that I'm giving to you."

If you haven't done that, I want you to come down to the altar right now. The altar is open. If you haven't, if you haven't, do it today. Do it right now. If you're online, you can text 717-939-9500 if you want to receive Christ and receive this great gift. Text salvation, text salvation so that you can receive Him today. If there's anybody here and you know you haven't received Him, you need to come today. Come today. He is ready for you. He's waiting on you. He loves you. He loves you. He's crazy about you. And He wants to provide for you. And He wants you to experience His promises and to know what He's done for you. He laid it all down for you. It's for you.

If you want to dedicate your life, maybe you want to say, "You know what? I want to start again. I want to start again. I didn't realize He did all that for me. I want to start fresh." Come on down. Let's pray. Come on down to the altar right now. If you didn't know, if you didn't know you want to wear this gift, you didn't realize all that He'd done for you, come on down. The altar is open. Let's pray and present ourselves again to Him. Let's present ourselves to Him again afresh. Hallelujah. Thank You, Lord. He's done too much for us for us to have stepped. He's done too much for us to neglect Him and to collect His great work. He's a mighty God and He's able. Amen. He's able. He's able. He's able. Thank You, Lord. Anybody else? Tomorrow's not promised. Don't wait. Don't wait till tomorrow. Please don't believe that lie. You don't know if you're gonna wake up tomorrow morning. You can't promise me that you will. You can't prove to me that you're going to be here tomorrow. Make the decision today. Don't let the enemy cheat you out of a wonderful life. Not easy, but it's wonderful. Amen. Hallelujah. Thank God. God bless you.

If you're able to stand on your feet, we want to ask you just to stand on your feet. I want you to be clear this, that you're you're 30 seconds away from making the greatest decision of your life. She appealed to you. She said, number one, if you need to get saved, that means you need to receive Jesus Christ as your personal savior. There's an opportunity. Number two, if you're in a backslidden situation, you had a relationship with God and you drifted away. It's the opportunity to reconnect with Him today. And here's number three, is that you don't have a church home. You say, "But I don't have a church home." God spoke to you and said, "This is a place where He wants you to be." I want to give you an opportunity to respond clearly today. If you're unsaved, now's the time to get right. If you're backslidden, it's now the time to rededicate. Or number three, if you don't have a church home, now is the time. Is there anybody here in the sanctuary? Want to give you this opportunity just to respond real quickly. Unsaved, backsliding, or you're looking for a church home. You're 30 seconds away. We're not going to look down on you. We're not going to talk bad about you. As a matter of fact, we're going to praise God for you when you come. Is there anybody here today? Want to give you an opportunity to. Anybody here today? Amen. Can we thank God for the message on this morning? And can we thank God for the messenger on this one? Let's give God some praise. Amen. Bless your heart. Bless your heart. Make sure that you come by, that you hug on her, that you encourage her, say a kind word to her. Amen. If you want to shake her hand real heavy, and she likes handshakes that have substance in them. Amen. Amen. Praise our God. Let's pray. Father, we thank You for Your grace. We thank You for Your, Your, Your, Your compassion. We thank You for the invisible hand that is. We thank You for the Providence of God that is in our life. We pray for Renee now that You would just bless her, keep her, and encourage her heart right now. Renew her afresh right now in the name of Jesus. Thank You for each and every last person that's on the sound of the voice now. God, as we leave from this place, but we never leave from Your presence. Give us traveling grace down the highways, the byways, the airways, the railways. Bless those members who are traveling afar, that are away. Keep them safely until they come back into the fold. It's in Jesus' name we pray and give thanks. And all of God's people said, amen. Amen. Amen. God bless y'all.