Transcription
Good evening everyone. Beautiful night to be here. Christian Life Center. The word from this morning really stuck with me all day. We had to make room for salvation. Really hit. Really hit. That brought me to Psalms 55:18. He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me. For there were many with me. Is there anybody else in here who's grateful for a God that has delivered us from all things that that restrained us, that kept us down? Thank you, Lord. Oh, if you could lift your hands and give him thanks. Thank you, Jesus. We serve a God that is so merciful. We serve a God that is great. We serve the only God. Oh, thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. We feel your presence here, Lord. We feel your presence here, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for setting me free. Thank you for setting us all free so we can come here on a Sunday night, on a Wednesday night, and worship you. Oh, hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. You set us free. You set us free. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. We give you grace. We give you glory. We glorify your name in the mighty name of Jesus. God, we ask your presence to fill this place right now in the name of Jesus. Lord, we want more of your presence, more of your glory. God, touch us in this place tonight. God, meet us in this place tonight. God, God, you're the only one worthy of the praise. God, you're the only one worthy of the worship. All the glory belongs TO YOU. WE'VE COME TO MAGNIFY YOUR NAME AND praise you AND BLESS YOU, GOD. RECEIVE our worship, God. LET IT RISE UP AS AN INCENSE BEFORE YOU TONIGHT. YEAH. YEAH. Jesus said, "Father, we ask you for your presence here on earth. We call down calling out. We are calling out. We're calling out for more. We are calling out for more." So let your glory fill this place. God saturate and there's nothing we want more. There is nothing we want more and more of you. So we lift his hand burning hearts reaching out for you God. We cry out holy one for more of you. We're gather in your name here in your name. Give me worship and praise for you. If you want more, we want you to put your hands together. We want more of you, God. We're crying out for more, God. We hunger for you, Jesus. We hunger for the living of tasted and seen that you are. We are calling out. We are crying out. We are crying out for more. There's nothing like being with you. There's nothing we There is nothing we want for you. lifting burning hearts reaching out for you God. We cry out for we give your name worship and praise every day for you. We want everybody sing. Heat. Heat. Heat. Burning hearts reaching out for you. We cry out. Holy one for you. Gather here in your name. Give me worship and praise. We want everything you don't know to him. Lord, we want more of you. We desire more of you. Have your way of this place tonight. We desire you, Lord. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Yeah. How many are hungry for more of God in this place? Oh Lord, we want nothing more than you. We want nothing more than your presence in this place, God. Oh, have your way. Lord, saturate this atmosphere, Jesus. Me in the valley, standing with my hands held high. The valley will never take my song. Find me in the desert. Holding on to you for life. The desert will never take my song. No. Theert will never take my song. I will praise you. I will praise you. I won't let the stones cry. I won't let the stones cry. He'll praise you. I will praise you. Something if he has to. I won't let the stones cry. I won't let the stones cry out. Find me with the promise. Dancing where you proise. Still shouting of everything you've done. High up on the mountain. I was made to testify. Forever you will have my song. Oh, forever you will have my soul. I will praise you. I will praise you. I will praise you. I won't let the stars cry. I won't let the storms fire you. I will praise you. I won't let the stars cry. I won't let the stars praise you. I will praise you. I will praise you. I will praise you. I won't let the stor. I won't let the storms cry. I will praise you. Something else you won't let the stones cry. I won't let the stones cry out. The longer the weight, the longer I'll praise, the stronger the pain, the stronger my faith grows, the higher the need, the higher I'll reach. The higher I'll reach, the greater the call, the greater the cause, the more I believe, the more I believe. The longer the way, the longer the way, the longer I'll pray, the longer I'll pray, the stronger the pain, the stronger the pain, the stronger my faith, the stronger my faith, the higher the higher I'll reach. The greater the God, the greater the God, the more I believe. The more I believe, then I will praise you. I will praise you. I won't let the stones cry. I won't let the stones cry out. I will praise you something in me. You just have to let your soul cry. I won't let the souls I will praise you. I will praise you. I will praise you. I will praise you. I won't let the stars. I won't let you. I will praise you. I won't let the star. I won't let the stars away. Heat. Heat. I believe the way I stronger the stronger the stronger the stronger my stronger The higher than me, the higher the higher I believe. I believe I will praise you. I will praise you. I won't let the stones cry. I won't let the stones I will praise you. I will praise you. Something in me has to. I won't let the stones try. I won't let the stones cry out. Oh Jesus. Somebody just entertain the presence of the Lord right now. He is here. I'm telling you, he is here right now. Here's a revelation for you. Why can one person come to a church service and it's the best service they've ever been to? Another person come to a church service and they leave just as dead as the way they walked in. Why? It's because the scripture says God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sweth that shall he also reap. That means when you walk into the house of God and you're not ready to sew nothing. You just want the preacher to do all the work. You just want the choir with the anointing to do something for you. Listen, I have too much for God to do in my life. I have too many miracles I need from the Lord. I'm going to give everything that I've got. When it's time to shout, I'm going to shout. When it's time to weep, I'm going to weep because I NEED SOMETHING FROM GOD. UH I DON'T WANT TO WALK OUT OF THOSE DOORS THE SAME WAY UH THAT I WALKED IN. AND I'M HERE TO TELL YOU TODAY THAT WHEN YOU WALK THROUGH THESE DOORS, YOU DON'T HAVE TO LEAVE THE SAME WAY THAT YOU CAME. NOW, here's the thing. I can't make it come on you. I can't make you pray through. I can't make you get your miracle. But you can decide it. I'm getting it. Is anybody going to decide it today? I'm going to get my miracle. I'm going all the way. Whatever God wants to do tonight, I'm going to do it in Jesus name. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Well, it's good to be in the house of the Lord tonight. You can make your way back to your seats. Uh, as you actually you don't have to go to your seat. You can walk around, shake if each other's hand. You can do that on your way back to your seat if you want. But we want to welcome you to Christian Life Center, especially our first time guests. We greet you in Jesus name. Um, you can take some time and greet some people right now. Brother How many are glad to be in the house of the Lord? Lord on a Sunday night. Praise God. Praise God. You can return to your seats. And the ushers are going to get in place here. As our ushers get in place, we're going to give you the opportunity to worship God through your giving. Hallelujah. We are a church who puts faith. Amen. Four ways to give. The tithely app or the church app. You can download it is a very fancy app and it will change your life and you can give on it. Uh, text to give the numbers here on the screen envelope in the offering plate and there's a kiosk in the lobby. Let's say our offering decree together as a church body. Thou shalt also decree a thing and it shall be established unto thee and the light shall shine upon thy ways. I am a cheerful giver. Today I bring your tithe and my offering to put into your storehouse. I also give my faith and action offering according to the pledge I made to you. Therefore the enemy is rebuked and every curse is broken upon the authority of your word I have given and it shall be given unto me pressed down, shaken together and running over. You will pour upon me such blessings that there is not room enough to receive. I receive your blessings in my family, finances, body, and spirit. All that I do will prosper according to your word in Jesus name. Amen. God bless. You can be seated as the usher serve you. We want to remind you we have every Tuesday night we have growth night um at 6 pm. You will not want to miss community prayer at 6 o'clock. It will change your life. And Tuesdays at 7 p.m. we do our split session classes highlighting the Christian Life University class um 101 and 2011. It is the first step into being plugged in at CLC. Also we have youth classes age 12 to 17 and a study on end time prophecy for those who have completed the CLU 101 and 2011. Um, Acts evangelism is every Saturday or most Saturdays I should say at 9:00 am and you can just show up. You can see brother Joe Salamita to ask questions on details for that. But at 9:00 a.m. we come and pray together and then we go and reach the community. CLC marriage weekend is this weekend, February 13th and 14th. It is $30 per couple. So, if you've not made arrangements uh for our couples to to go, let's do that. Now is a now is the best time. Friday uh at 7 PM dressy. Sunday's best attire, Friday night. And then Saturday 9:00 a.m. is business casual attire and you can register via the QR code in the lobby. Um, all of our events are found on our website. Let's continue to worship the Lord together. The Holy Ghost is moving in this service. Let's just continue in that vein of worship right now in Jesus name. Hallelujah. How many came to worship a true and faithful God in this place tonight? Oh, we lift you up, Jesus. We praise you, Lord. We praise you, Lord. You've been so faithful. You've been so true. None like you. Sin held the keys. Love set me free. That's what you do when I think when I think of the goodness of Jesus. Oh, I can't help. I can't help. I can't help. What a feeling his presence. So let me sing. Let everything that has breath praising. Keep shouting. Give everything we have left to Jesus. Let it sound like heaven when we lift you. Let it sound like heaven when we lift you. See, can't keep it. Can't keep it inside. I let it out. Let it out. Somebody got a song in their hearts. Song in my heart. Praise in my mouth. Let it out. Can't deny what I feel in his presence. One more. I'm really forgi everything we have to Jesus. Let us all heaven when we lift you. Heat. Heat. sound like heaven when we sound like heaven when we live. No greater honor that I could offer than to lift you up. Why don't you sing that right now? There is no no greater honor that I could offer than to lift you up. We know that there's no there is no no greater honor that I could offer to lift you up Jesus to lift you up. Heat. Heat. Heat. Your praise lift it up. You shall give it up. Oh, your hands your hands. Lift it up. Lift him up. Lift him up. Your praise. Lift him up. Lift it up. You shall give it up. Give it up. Your hands lift him up. Lift him up. Keep praising. Keep shouting. Everything we are to Jesus. Let it sound like heaven when we live. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heaven praise lift to you. WE LIFT OUR PRAISES to you Jesus. Oh hallelujah. Hallelujah. Let's keep that going another minute. Why don't you lift him up with your mouth? Let's offer unto God the sacrifice of praise, even the fruit of our lips. Are you lifted up, Jesus? Mighty God, mighty God. Mighty God, mighty God. Hallelujah. Oh, thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you, Lord Jesus. God is so good. Doesn't it feel good in the house of the Lord on a Sunday night, so thankful for his presence? You may return to your seats. Just a couple of things to take care of before we dive into the word of God. I do want to make you aware that um beginning next Sunday, we will be changing up the order of service slightly. Uh, we're going to combine our offering time and fellowship time together. And instead of the ushers uh walking through the crowd, we're going to try to and really, you know, we don't do anything really permanent around here. We like to just mix things up. So, it may last at 6 months, it may last six years, it may last till Jesus comes, but we'll just see. But, but the Bible talks about bringing your offering. And so the ushers will stand at the front and you will come and uh if you're able to give in that offering, we're also going to have uh mobile kiosks up here available. There's just something about the people of God bringing that to Jesus Christ. So get ready for that. Prepare, fast, pray, whatever you need to do that the Lord will uh touch us for that. I also want to announce something coming up. Brother Luis, could you come up here for a moment? Uh uh after Valentine's, beginning really beginning the 16th, Brother Edwin Cicada, mighty Spanish evangelist, will be here with us for the week, and he's going to start evangelism with the Spanish community. He's going to be hitting the streets. And uh and then Thursday the 19th, he will be um speaking at our Spanish Bible study. And then Friday, there's going to be a full evangelism service for the Spanish community here at the church, 7 p.m. with food and fellowship after. Uh, and the only way white people are allowed to come is if you bring Spanish people with you. I think that's how how that works. Um, and then Saturday, he's hitting the streets again. Sunday, he's preaching three times. All three services will be bilingual. So, we're going to try to bust a wall down for the Spanish community of this region to have revival. I can feel the faith of the Holy Ghost in there. Anybody believing that God's going to pour out his power and spirit? You want to say all that in Spanish? Announce brother Cicada coming. I will translate. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Fellowship. Praise God. Anybody thankful for Brother Louise and Sister Maria, their investment into Ministerial Dean. Close enough. Okay. Gloria. Adios. Praise God. Let's stand for the reading of the word. Psalms chapter 128. We're going to get into what we had planned on getting into Wednesday night. And um Jesus had other plans on that Wednesday night. The power of God fell. But I want to just tell you in advance uh February, everybody say February is for families. And we are going to get into we're going to get into investing in our families in February. And we're going to talk about things that need to be talked about. Some of the things are tough subjects but necessary subjects. And so, uh, I believe God's going to speak to us. Psalms chapter 128, verse one, a song of degrees. Blessed is everyone that fearth the Lord, that walketh in his ways. What happens to that kind of a person? For thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands. Happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of the house. thine house, thy children like olive plants. That means they're going to be greasy and productive. Olive plants around thy table. Behold that thus shall the man be blessed that fearth the Lord. The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion. This is a spiritual blessing. You're going to see it physically, but it's a spiritual source. Thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. Yay, thou shalt see thy children's children and peace upon Israel. I want to talk to you for a few minutes tonight about investing in family. Investing in family. Let's ask Jesus to help us tonight. Would you do that with me? Lord Jesus, we love you. Thank you, God, for the privilege of your word. Your word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. It shows us where we are and where to go. I pray that the light would shine upon our families this month, that we would become stronger in our families, that our relationships would deepen, and that they would become healthy and productive. We ask these things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And everybody say in Jesus name, turn to three or four people before you're seated. Greet them. Tell them you love them. You may be seated in Jesus name. Praise God. We've already got some commitments for baptism after this service tonight. God is blessing. We're so thankful for that. Everybody say, "Family life." What used to be normal is no longer normal. Family life has dramatically changed in the world. The United States of America, the term nuclear family was once the cornerstone of society. Nuclear family refers to husband, wife, children living together. This has been replaced with just about everything else happening in homes from I hesitate to use this word but in our day it's it is from the simplicity of just divorce to the complexity of same sex parents. It's changed in the home. During the first half of the 20th century, the nuclear family was the dominant household structure in many parts of the world. However, American households have undergone dramatic change since 1960. That was the pivotal season in American history where the traditional nuclear family structure went into a prolonged period of sharp decline. Even in 1970, nuclear families were a much larger portion of the population with 40% of all households being nuclear families, husband wife children living together. In 2020, about 20% two out of 10 homes were husband wife children living together. This is roughly the same as the number of households made up of unrelated adults sharing a home. So what happened in 1960 to dramatically change the family dynamic. It's called the cultural revolution. Free love, free drugs, freedom from cultural norms, freedom from biblical parenting styles. That's old-fashioned, out of date. Let's try something new. All this facilitated the destruction, the intentional, not accidental, the intentional strategic dismantling of the idea of the nuclear family. God's idea of paradise was husband and wife and kids together until it's time to kick them out. Then it's just husband and wife again. That is God's idea of paradise. The family is the only structure that still remains from the garden. While God placed Adam and Eve in the garden to live, the garden was a literal garden, but it's also a metaphor for what the family is. It's a place of beauty. It's a place of health. It's a place where mud is on the floor. It's a place of peace. It's a place of joy. It's a place of responsibility. It's a place of great reward. The family garden is a place where things grow. The family garden is a place where things are born. The family garden is a place of consistency. It's the place where the presence of God was welcome to walk in anytime he wanted. My how things have changed. I do believe that in our day the church remains normal. and normal stands out like a light set on a hill. The church, we're dealing with this. The church deals with the winds of culture. The deal The church deals with the spirits that are attacking our society. The church feels the the shaking and the quaking that happens in the spirit realm against these things. But the church still has a grip on the reality that God established from the very beginning that this is what's right. But even in the church, there are people that have experienced the exact opposite of everything I just said. The family is a place of joy, a place of peace. There may be people here that have had a very different experience. One generation removed from the presence of God and the family went from the origin of life to the origin of death and murder. I want to tell you something. If there is one single investment that you can make that is the change all, fix all, help all, it's get the presence of God in your home. I want the presence of God in the Campotella family. I want Jesus to be able to walk in and do whatever he wants to do. I will not create an environment where Jesus is not welcome. I'm not going to watch stuff where Jesus isn't welcome to sit down next to me and watch it. I'm not going to listen to stuff where Jesus would not feel welcome. We've got to create an environment in our homes that the presence of God can live in. If not, what God intended to be a garden of rest will be a wilderness of pain. To nurture the family garden, someone has to be willing to work it. Even before the curse, God told Adam two things to do with his garden. Genesis 2:15. And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden to dress it. Everybody say to dress it. And to keep it. Everybody say to keep it. Dress it is the Hebrew word abad which means to work it. Everybody say invest. You need to invest in your garden. Keep it is the word shamar. It means to guard it. Everybody say protect. Everybody say invest and protect. Everybody say invest and protect. And you got to keep it up until Jesus comes. If this garden of my family is going to be what God wants it to be, I've got to invest in it and I've got to protect it. And husbands, your wife will be there to help you do that. Wives, your husband will help you be there and do that. But I want to tell both genders here today, you cannot just invest and protect when it is convenient. This is the greatest job you are ever going to have. Investing and protecting your family. There, I'm telling you, there are no accolades. There are no moments of attention or fame. There's no amount of money. There's no amount of career success. I couldn't care less. If my family does not have my investment and protection, what else in the world is there to live for? I really feel like that. I really feel that way. And I I'm here to tell you, and my wife can vouch for this. Hopefully she doesn't do it audibly, but I am I am not the perfect husband. Look at her shake her head no and argue with me while I'm preaching. Look at her disagreeing with me. I am not the perfect I know it's it's catching y'all by surprise when I say this right now. I know y'all are struggling with me even saying those words. I am not the perfect husband. Now, you may be the perfect husband, dude. And I want to pick your brain. I've never met the perfect husband. I think we're all trying to strive to be like Jesus. And I I have the perfect wife. Now, y'all didn't y'all didn't argue with me when I said I'm not the perfect husband. Y'all are clapping when I said she's the perfect wife. Side pickers. But hey, she'll tell you she's not the perfect wife. But it still doesn't matter. Just because you've got issues does not disqualify you from striving to invest and striving to protect. Well, I just got problems. Yeah, you have got to invest and protect. Well, I just deal with stuff. You have got to invest and protect. Do not give yourself a pass. We've got to do it consistently. Everybody say, "Consistency." Consistency in the family is the key to a healthy home. Ever wonder how that snake got so close to Adam's family? How in the world did Lucifer himself get close enough to Eve to have a conversation? I'll tell you how he was not protecting his garden. This is just how it is. The great failure that you see is always preceded by little failures you never see. The great public failure everybody sees in a human being is always preceded by secret failures that nobody gets to see. We see the fall of an Adam and Eve at the tree. But I want to tell you there was a bunch of little pieces of neglect. You don't have to do anything to backslide. You don't have to do anything strategic. Just miss prayer. That's right. You don't you don't have to do anything to for your heart to be turned against truth and heart to be turned against holiness and heart to be turned against apostolic authority. You don't have to do some terrible thing like read the book of Satan. Just miss prayer and do it again. Just miss church services and do it again. Just neglect what's being taught and do it again. Something will come inside of your mind and in your spirit that will start tweaking you. The moment we see the failure is not the main failure. There was a bunch of little secret failures that led up to the very public failure. I want you to notice Eve's response. Genesis 3:1. Is this okay on Sunday night? Genesis 3:1. Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. He said unto the woman, "Yay, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" Did God really tell you that? What kind of God would hold back from you something that's tasty? Man, ain't that just like Satan? Man, I thought your baby was in there. I'm like, he's rolling away right now. I want to get you focused on what you don't have so I can take away from you what you do have. I want to get you focused on the one thing that's off limits so I can get you blind about everything that's available to you because of your sacrifice. Boy, that's the devil. And the woman said unto the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it. Watch, neither shall you touch it, lest you die." Now, God didn't actually say, "Don't touch it." He just said, "Don't eat it." In Genesis 21:17, where did Eve get the don't touch it command? That was Adam investing and protecting. Listen, I know God's minimum requirement is this, but I feel like if we're really going to do this, I don't know if we have the strength not to just eat. Let's put a big barrier around it. But but honey, there's no word for that. I know there's no word, but it's just called wisdom. Let's put a big standard around. Let's just say we're not going to have this in our home. I know the Bible never mentions television, but I just don't feel comfortable with it on and my kids watching bikini commercials here and there. I I'm just going to say, let's put a big barrier around the un the forbidden and the untouchable. Let's put a big wall up that we can protect our family. Yes, Adam was investing AND PROTECTING. SO WHERE WAS Adam when the serpent was talking to his greatest gift from God? Genesis 3 and 6, it tells us where he was. When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and the tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband. Say what? Excuse me. Wait a minute. He was right there watching this unfold. You know what the Apostle Paul said about this very moment? He said, "Eve was deceived, but Adam was not deceived. Eve was being tricked. Adam saw through the trick, which is even worse because he still kept his mouth shut." Now, I'm gonna get in trouble for saying this, but how many husbands can relate to that? Don't you dare raise your hand. What What would cause Adam TO GET TO A place where his words no longer mattered? Why would Adam be silent? I'll tell you why. At some point he stopped investing. And when you don't invest properly, you can't protect properly. I just I'm going to get in trouble for this month. I can already tell. But let me tell you something. If I have not been investing with my wife, she ain't going to listen to what I say. If I'm not trying to spend time and trying to be helpful and trying to be loving and show my wife do benevolence as the Bible says and love my wife as Christ loved the church and then all of a sudden I got some rule I want to lay down. I'm the man of this house woman. Yeah, you ain't spent five minutes with me in the past month. If you do not invest, you will not have the authority to protect. And so Adam's standing there and he's watching it unfold. He's watching this thing happen. But because he has no authority to speak direction in his own home, BECAUSE HE HAS NO AUTHORITY TO GIVE INSTRUCTION AND REVELATION, HE KEPT HIS MOUTH SHUT AND HE FELL WITH HER. Everybody say, "You got to invest properly so you can protect properly. Try to tell your kids something if you have not been spending the appropriate amount of time with them. You never hang out with them. You never play with them. You never take them anywhere. But when you come home, you lay down the law. Let's see how long that lasts for you. Your investment will determine your authority for the level of protection God would pour you. I'm going to say it again and again and again. Your level of investment will determine your level of authority to protect. Listen, you are not wasting time with your kids. UH YOU ARE NOT WASTING TIME IN YOUR MARRIAGE. UH YOUR LEVEL OF INVESTMENT WILL DETERMINE YOUR ability to put up a wall. I want to tell you something. My wife, when she says something, I really pay attention. I really do. She's got a lot of good stuff to say. I love bouncing ideas off my wife. I don't like to implement anything without talking to my wife first. Now, that's probably I don't know if that's everybody or or uh if if I'm just different in that area, but I've met a bunch of people like that. I met a bunch of husbands like that. She's got some good stuff to say. I'll tell you one thing now. I'm going to switch roles on you for all the women that were cheering. Ladies, if you have not been investing in what your husband needs, just try to tell him what to do. See how that goes for you. Come on. It's our level of investment in each other that gives us permission to speak truth to each other. It's our level. You know why Jesus could look at Peter and SAY, "GET THEE BEHIND ME, SATAN." BECAUSE HE'D BEEN INVESTING FOR THREE YEARS. UH BLOOD, SWEAT, AND TEARS DAY AND NIGHT. NOW, I CAN TELL YOU THE TRUTH. Don't try that on your spouse. By the way, that's going to be lesson seven in this month. If we don't do the proactive work of investing in family, protecting our family becomes way harder. But if we properly invest time, effort, love, learning, fellowship, fun, God will allow us the influence and authority in our family to protect when that time comes. Lift your hands and say, "Jesus, help us to invest in our families." Would you pray that with me? Spouses, parents, help us to invest, God. What a worthwhile investment. What a powerful in. It's an investment you can't fail in. It's an investment you can't go wrong in. This is something you have organized, orchestrated, implemented. God, help us to invest in our families so we can protect them according to your will in Jesus name. Everybody say the family. The family is God's fundamental unit on planet earth. It's designed to produce stable individuals, stable groups, stable churches, stable nations. You can trace most instability, emotional, financial, spiritual, mental. You can trace most instability back to a family problem. The family is designed as the foundation of the kingdom of God. Strong families, strong churches. Strong families, strong community. Strong families, strong nation, strong family, strong kingdom of God. One of the best places on earth to be is in a family consistently focused on constructive habits. One of the worst places to be on planet earth is in a family that is caught in a cycle of destructive habits. Nothing in this world has more power to shape the past, present, and future than the family. Thankfully, God gives us his word as the template for what a family should be. Genesis 2:24, "There shall therefore shall a man leave his father and motherhand and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh." The core of the family is the union between one man and one woman for life. Amen. Amen. You know why that amen fizzled and died? Because there I don't think there's any greater attack on humanity right now. The core of the family is the union between one man and one woman for life. This is God's definition of marriage. Therefore, it is the only definition of marriage. Now, as Pentecostals, we get excited about that. Marriage is one man and one woman. Uh-huh. Ain't no marriage between two men. No way. Ooh. Yeah. Ain't no marriage between two women. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. I want to tell you Pentecostals, we also need to get very excited about investing in that marriage between one man and one woman. We need to get excited about reading books for that marriage between one man and woman. We need to get excited about praying together. Are you turning me down? I want to say something about Sammy Silva. He has just at Daytona State for the first time I believe in CLC history. He has just made our CLCCM Christian Life Center Campus Ministry an official ministry club at Daytona State University. That boy got it done. That boy got it done. We're going to have revival at Daytona State University. That's what I'm trying to tell you. Hallelujah. Praise God. Hallelujah. Lord, Lord. And that means when you're an official campus um um ministry, they give you a budget and they give you a room to have classes in. And so, we're going to be doing events on that campus. We're going to have campus ministry going fully strong. I'm so proud of him. So, amen. Let's give him one more hand clap. This is wonderful. Thank you, Jesus. Everybody say, "Habits." Habits are powerful. What we really value determines how we behave. What we really value determines how we behave. Values determine behavior. Behaviors determine habits. Habits determine lifestyle. Lifestyle determines destiny. It all starts with value. You can say excellent marriage is valuable. If you really believe that, you're going to be investing in that marriage. I got three people with me right now. Is marriage the most important unity in the entire globe? Yes. When's the last time you read a marriage book? You don't actually believe it. What you value determines how you behave. And how you behave repetitively determines habits. Habits determine lifestyle. Lifestyle determines destiny. Can I tell you there are no marriages that are just automatically successful? No. Not one. There are no marriages that are just DNA successful, man. They just they are just so compatible. Look at them. Look at each other. They've been married 49 years and they just still get googly eyed. Don't tell me that. That did not happen natural. I have sat next to I interview people all the time. I sit next to people on planes, especially old people. I love sitting next to um seasoned people. Well seasoned people, extra seasoned people. Got the cheap seats helping me over here. Hey, I sat next to one couple. They looked as old as Noah and they're holding hands. I'm like, what? I said, hey, we got a two and a half hour flight. What is the secret? You guys are holding hands. Y'all could be holding anything right now. You're holding hands. Why are y'all holding hands? What's the secret to a happy marriage? And they just both look at each other. You go ahead, Marge. And Marge said, "I'll tell you the secret. I forgave him a lot. Then George leans up. Yeah, that's right. She forgave me a lot. That's I mean we have two and a half hours. That's your answer? Yeah, that's our answer. Leave us alone. Hey, let me tell you something. It don't happen accidentally. Come on. Excellent marriages don't happen. They don't just happen accident. You've got to invest in beautiful gardens. DON'T COME ON. ANYBODY WITH A BRAIN WOULDN'T WALK UP TO A GORGEOUS GARDEN AND SAY, "MY GOD, LOOK AT THIS GARDEN. IT'S GORGEOUS." I MEAN, THIS GUY JUST GOT BLESSED WITH THIS YARD. MY YARD DON'T LOOK LIKE THAT. LOOK AT HIS YARD. CUZ I NEVER MOW MY YARD. I NEVER PLANT A SINGLE THING AND I NEVER WATER ANYTHING. MY YARD DON'T LOOK LIKE HIS YARD. THEY WORKED ON THAT GARDEN EVERY SINGLE DAY. THEY'RE PLUCKING WEEDS, THEY'RE PL Come on. IT DOESN'T HAPPEN ACCIDENTALLY. YOU GOT TO INVEST. There's basically two categories of habits. There are destructive habits and constructive habits. There are habits that add and there are habits that take away. Anybody ever dealt with a habit that took away? Hard to break. thinking about my personal habits. I have a very specific lifestyle set of habits that I have just every day of my life. I don't even think about it anymore. Like I when I'm brushing my teeth, I'm not like, "Okay, in 10 seconds we're going to make the move for the back mer." Get ready. Five, four, three, two, one. This is a habit. I always shave starting on the right side of my face. I don't know why, but something just doesn't feel right. If I start over here, can anybody relate to what I'm saying right now? Come on, men. Don't leave me up here to be crucified. We have these habits. Some of them take away our efficiency, right? You got to fix those. Some of them add to our effic routine. Most of us just go through our morning routines. We're not thinking about it at all. Most adults have learned how to wash their entire body without even thinking about it. Which gives you so much time in the shower to think about other things or sing something. Habits. Destructive habits can form naturally. Constructive habits usually have to form intentionally. There are habits that build and there are habits that tear down. We're going to talk about both and specifically in reference to families. Now, I'm going to take a gear here. We're going to go for the rest of this service going to be I'm almost I'm I'm about halfway done right now. We're going to just hit this and and uh we'll we got Bible quizzing coming up, I think, tonight. We got a big presentation. So, but I'm going to take a path right here. I want y'all to help me. Okay. Constructive family habit number one. Invest in your marriage. The only way the garden grows is if you dress it, sew into it, spend time in it, organize it, invest it. The only way marriage pays dividends is if you invest in it. Otherwise, you will spend your marriage until there's nothing left. One of the greatest investments, and this is what I'm talking about, by going down a path. Here we go. One of the greatest investments you will ever make in your marriage is let the Lord lead you, young adults, young people, in your choice. I'm going to talk to some young people for a few minutes. I'm going to talk. We got some single adults coming up. There going to be a lot of marriages around here shortly, y'all. So, this is my moment. This is my moment to be pastor for these very potentially romantic young people that are going to be having lots of marriages. Young people, and I mean anybody under 80 that's single. Young people, single adults, if you make a spirit-led choice, you will have a soulmate. If you make a flesh choice, in the immort immortal words of Caleb Herring, you might have a cellmate. And that's the last time I'm ever going to give him credit. After that, it's my quote. One of the greatest investments into your marriage THAT YOU CAN POSSIBLY MAKE IS PICK THE RIGHT ONE. All right. Now, there are several things to pay attention to here. Watch what David said. I'm going to give y'all some keys. Okay, you ready? You ready? Are you ready? Are you ready? Okay. You ready? Are you listening? Everybody under Everybody under 25 that's single, wave a hand at me. Go ahead, Mark. Oh, no. That's right. You're 32. My bad. My bad. All right. Listen to me, singles. Listen to me, young people. Psalms 37 and4. Delight thyself also in the Lord. How do I PICK THE RIGHT ONE, PASTOR? Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Watch the word delight means to be happy about the Lord, to be pliable and moldable to the Lord. He has access to all of you. If you delight in him, he will download his desires into your spirit for the right pick. If you delight in him, when it says he'll give you the desires of the heart, it does not mean he'll give you what you want. It means he will put his desires in your heart. You will actually desire the one he desires. Watch verse 5. Commit thy way unto the Lord. Trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass. Lord, I need you now. Would you put my heart back? I search the world just to find out. Just to find out. Just to find out. Just to find out. Really? You really believe that? And why do we fight God so much? We'll sing it and we'll groove to it until Jesus says no. And you be like, "Just to find out if my ways, I'm going find out if my ways I'm find. Good luck. Good luck. Commit thy way UNTO THE LORD. TRUST ALSO IN HIM, AND HE SHALL BRING IT TO PASS. Can I tell you right now, flirting won't bring it to pass. Secret make out sessions won't bring it to pass. Doing things your way won't bring it to pass. But if you commit to God's way and trust in him, he knows what you NEED WAY MORE THAN YOU DO. HE KNOWS YOUR FUTURE WAY BETTER THAN YOU DO. What's going to happen? He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light. I want you to notice this. He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light and thy judgment as the noon day. You are going to end up as a shining example. If you commit your way to him, if you don't commit your way to him, you'll end up like a different type of example. You'll still be an example. Rest in the Lord. This is when you're getting, you know, mid20s now, pushing 30s, entering into the 30s. Got to figure this out. Rest on the Lord and wait patiently for him. Can I tell you right now, God's will and timing require a great deal of patience? Doesn't everybody love patience? Never pray for patience. Ever. You know why the Bible says tribulation workketh patience? When you pray for patience, you're asking God for a really good trial. GOD, GIVE ME PATIENCE. God's like, "All right, rest on the Lord. Wait patiently for him." You have to learn to rest in him. You have to learn how to find your relief in his presence. You have to learn how to bring that cute thing before his face. Come on now. Can't stop thinking about her, Lord, but I give her to you. I'm being dead serious. God, I can't get my mind off that boy. I give him to you. I will not I will not act prematurely. Watch. I'm in it now.
I will not try to secure my spot in his heart. It's in your hands.
Hey man, I've seen young people. No, number one, I was a young person. But I've also preached to young people all over the world. I know how young people work. I know how young adults work. You're not really serious, but you want to secure a spot just in case things develop. Y'all are just leaving me up here right now. You know there's an emotional opening and so you're going to go ahead and make that deposit. Give them that look. Spend that extra time.
Listen, I want our young people to talk, boys and girls. Talk to each other. Enjoy each other's company. Don't touch each other. Enjoy each other's company. Go to the youth hangout together. Go to the bonfires together. Learn how to be friends with each other. Learn how to have listen until you learn how to have a brother-sister relationship.
You cannot have a healthy husband and wife relationship. I'm going to teach tonight. My Lord, I feel it on me. Until you learn to honor that boy as a brother first, until you learn to honor that girl as a sister first, you will never have the tools you need to honor her as a wife or honor him as a husband. Cuz you want to know what happens after just a little while in marriage?
And don't none of you married people back me up. Just lead me up here. It becomes very realistically like a brother-sister relationship. Cuz believe it or not, I know I'm going to shatter all hopes and dreams right now. Get the book Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts, but I'm going to shatter every hope and dream right now. Do you realize that there are going to be times in your marriage that you may not feel like kissing? There may be times where you just don't feel like holding hands.
All right, I'll just stay up here by myself. Everybody's afraid to back me up right now cuz your spouse is looking at you. Brother Marcus, you're in trouble, bro. You going to get nailed. Don't back me up with a hanky, man. That's next level backing up. Listen, what is Listen, this is getting a little bit weird, but it's absolutely the truth. What is the foundation of a marriage relationship? A brother and sister relationship. So good.
At the very least, I'm going to honor you and respect you and treat you with dignity as a sister in the Lord, which you were before you were my spouse. At the very least, I'm going to honor you as a brother. I'm going to treat you with respect and dignity as my brother in the Lord, which is what you were before you ever became my spouse. Young people, learn how to be good brothers and sisters.
Now, there are going to be young people and singles and young adults. They're just going to do it their way. God help them. But they're going to do it their way. What did he say next part of this scripture? He said, "Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him." Colon, there's another part to explain this. Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way.
Man, they're just doing it their way. They look so happy. Look at them sparks are flying. They look so good together. And young people like, "Wait a minute. Something's wrong."
Don't you fret over them. Don't you fret over somebody that's doing it their way because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to b. Don't look at those who do it their way. Well, well, they they did what they wanted. They just look just fine. Look like they're just having a blast. Watch verse 35. I have seen the wicked in great power and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Man, it looks like they're just flourishing, doing it their way. And he passed away. Yet he passed away. And lo, he was not. Yay, I sought him, but he could not be found. Where did they go? Nobody knows. They're gone forever. What happened to them? Who knows? They fell off the deep end and it never reemerged.
Tell you something. You think it's hard doing it God's way, try doing it your way. It's way harder. It looks harder doing it God's way, but in reality, our way is way harder. It's way more stressful doing it my way than it is his way. Takes a little time to figure that out, though. And then watch Mark the perfect man. Now, when it says wicked, it means somebody that's hostile to God's will. That's what wicked means here. Someone hostile to his will. On the flip side of that, mark the perfect man. This does not mean flawless. This means someone that is in alignment with God's will. And behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace.
Young people, one of the greatest investments you can make in your marriage is to pick the right spouse. Girls, listen. Girls, talk to your pastor's wife.
Tell you something, one thing she did right was pick the right one. Y'all bear with me in my folly. Okay. Guys, come talk to me. Man, I am I I love romance. I drive my wife nuts. I think I guess my version of romance, you know, that's that's another book you need to read. Five Love Languages.
I'll give you a list. We're going to have a list. We'll talk about it at the end of this service. But hey, you got somebody on your mind, especially when you're getting a little bit old, a teenager. Why would you hide it?
Listen to me. What? What? Why would you hide it? Why would you hide how you feel? Why would you hide behaviors? Because where there is a secret, there is a spirit. The best thing you can do is let the light shine on it. And if it passes the light test, go get it. Go get it. If it doesn't pass the light test, run for your life. That's right. Everybody say, "God gave you a pastor for a reason."
Listen, I can't see myself. You can't see yourself. The Bible says, "The way of every man is right in his own eyes." I want to ask you, am I am I someone that is like, am I Do you feel like I'm just like, man, I'm just ready to smash you, Austin. I'm ready to make a bad move. Just make a single move that makes me mad. Make one wrong move. I don't feel like I'm that way. Sometimes the vibe I'm getting from people is that's that's how I am. Then the Lord tells me, "No, it ain't you. It ain't you." They hate the light.
Young men, come talk to me, man. I help you. I've been through some stuff. I've seen a few things. I help you. And Jesus talks to me. Young ladies, go talk to your pastor's wife. She'd been through some stuff. God will talk to her for you. God will save your God will save your life through your pastor's wife. Hey, singles, young adults, young people, let wisdom be your guide and not lust. Let truth be your guide and not secrets. Let light be your guide and not darkness. Let the Word guide you and not your own feelings.
I want to tell you right now, there's nothing worse than watching someone's way unfold. Oh my god. You know, the tears, the tears that are cried in secret. As someone weighs their ways unfold. But my God, on the flip side, there is nothing more glorious than watching God's way unfold. You know what you'll say? I don't deserve this blessing. I do not deserve life to be this good. I do not deserve this spouse. How in the name of God did I marry Jessica and Campella? I don't deserve her. She My Lord, I don't know how. I'll tell you how. I yielded my will to the Lord's will. I yielded my mind to God's mind. I yielded my body to his word. Listen, God's got a plan for you that's so way better than the one you got for yourself.
Anybody good? I want to tell you something. There are people in this room, you've made some mistakes. Everybody that's in the church wasn't born in the church. That's exactly how it's supposed to be. You cannot control the decisions you made 10 years ago. Come on, somebody. You cannot control the decision you made when your mind was not enlightened by the will of God and the will. But if there's something in you that says, God, from this day forward, I want to do the will of God. Don't you know there is a grace available for you? I'm talking to single parents. I'm talking to single adults. I'm talking to people who think you made a mistake and you relate. I want to tell you right now, if there's grace in other areas, uh there's grace to cover mistakes you might have made in the past, God is able to sustain you and keep you. And what the devil tells you is a disaster will become the greatest testimony of your life. I I tell you that in the name of Jesus Christ. All right, you may be seated.
To pick the right one. I want to give you a secret. You ready? Going to memorize this. I'm getting hit right now. To pick the right one. Are you ready? Ready for the secret? Instead of focusing on finding the right one, focus on being the right one.
It's a great book. I read it. I did all the exercises in it when I was single and lonely. It's called Finding the Love of Your Life. Now, for those of you that don't know, I was 32 when I got married, and I um I was dramatically shot down by my pastor and his wife. I'll probably tell you that in a few minutes. So, I was lonely, miserable, wretched, living in darkness in my single abode. I'm reading marriage book after marriage book after marriage book after marriage. Somebody said all thank you. One of the books I read was called Finding the Love of Your Life. And it said, "Make a list of what you want in your spouse. What are you looking for? What's your dream spouse look like?" Gorgeous. Don't lie. You going to write that down, too? Super sweet, amazing cook. Likes to give daily foot massages. You can do it, Lord. Nothing shall be impossible to them that believe. He says, "What about hair color?" Don't care. Personality type. Fun but wise. Strong but patient. Outgoing but deep. I'll show you my list. It's amazing. I wanted someone in love with God. I wanted someone who had a great attitude. I wanted someone with a great work ethic. I wanted someone who prayed and fasted and reached the lost. I wanted someone like that. And then God said, "Do you think that person would be attracted to you?" I feel a wave of witness right now. Would that person that has it together firing on all cylinders look at you and be like, "No, thank you." And the whole premise of the book is don't focus on finding the right one. Don't focus on finding Mr. Right or Mrs. Right. Focus on being Mr. Right or Mrs. Right. And when you focus on becoming the right one in God's timing, he will connect you with the right one. You want someone in love with God. I want to tell you right now, someone in love with God will only be attracted to someone who's actually in love with God. They will not give you the time of day. Someone who really walks in the love of God, if you do not walk in it, I promise you after a short conversation, they're going to realize that's a no. I can feel it. Their relationship with God's about this deep. Nope. That's a big now. They're gorgeous. They're handsome. Their their stud muffin, whatever you want to call them, but they they just don't love him. They don't worship when they're supposed to be worshiping. They don't shout when they're supposed to be shouting. They're not breaking at the altar when they're not reaching out. They're not they don't I I can just tell someone that walks close to the Lord is only going to be attracted to somebody who walks close to the Lord. You want somebody with a great attitude, you're going to have to have a great attitude. You're looking for somebody with a great work ethic, they're going to see your work ethic as soon as they meet you. You want someone who prays, fast, and evangelizes. Be someone who prays, fast, and evang. Hey, what if you married a spouse like you? I told y'all we were going down the road tonight. Come on. You skip prayer. You skip your Bible. Inconsistent. Lay it on bills. What if you married somebody like you? We got to focus on being the right one. I'm I think I'm beating a dead horse right now. If you focus on becoming the right one, God will bring it to pass.
All right. There are three areas in life. I'm on page six of eight. Three areas in life where you must be mature to be the right one. Is it okay? I'm talking to our young people, singles right now. You must be mature in at least three areas to be the right one. You must be emotionally mature. You must be spiritually mature. You must be financially mature. Those are the three cogs to the wheel. And if one of those is missing, the thing's going to crash. And they are interdependent. One does not work without the other. Don't tell me you're spiritually mature, but you don't pay your bills.
What does emotionally mature mean? You don't pout. What does emotionally mature mean? You don't throw tantrums. Emotionally mature means you have control of your temper. Emotionally mature means you don't hold grudges. Emotionally mature means you can handle adversity and keep a good attitude. That's what emotionally mature is. What is spiritually mature? Number one, you pray daily. Pastor, I've been in church for 20 years and I don't pray daily. I'm sorry. You're not spiritually mature yet. Then there's another level you should really strive for and that's called daily. What does spiritually mature mean? You fast. You know the word of God. You're faithful in time, talent, and treasure. You know, and obey the voice of God. What does financially mature mean? You have a job. You can provide for yourself, food, shelter, clothing, etc., and maybe a little extra for somebody else. You pay your bills on time. You don't have more outflow than you do income. You've been through the Dave Ramsey course. You aren't in bad debt. It is shutting down as we speak. You've been through the Dave Ramsey course. You don't spend everything you make. You've been through the Dave Ramsey course. You adhere to the teaching of Apostle Ramsay. You've read the epistles of Ramsay. Until these things are a reality in your life, listen, let me give you some great advice. Do not get involved in a relationship because if these things are not clicking and you get involved emotionally, guess what happens? Everything stalls. Marriage is not a healer. Marriage is a revealer. There was a list of things I didn't know was wrong with me till I got married. And they're legit. I don't like them. I don't like them one bit, but they're legit. My wife, my wife is, man, you know, I need this woman. I truly do because I am I am so, you know, this is going to blow your mind, but I am one of the most introverted people you're ever going to meet. I truly am. And when I'm up here in the pulpit, it don't seem like it one bit. It seems like I'm just the most gregarious, never met a stranger. Ask my wife. I'm extreme. And so my life is internal. It's inward. It's thoughts. It's feelings. It's it's analytical. I am the worst analytical. My brain is just I'm analyzing eye movement. I'm analyzing word tone. I'm analyzing body. I'm I'm just analyzing. And my wife does not. And if there's something to be talked about, I want to shelf it. Okay, y'all leave me up here by myself as I'm getting crucified right now. I want to shelf that thing. If there's something irritating, I want to put it on the shelf. I want to do a 21-day fast about it. I want to read five books on it and then we'll talk about it. My wife, if there's something irritating, we ain't going to bed until it's resolved. I need her. I Let me tell you something. I didn't know. And this is the thing about marriage. You know what marriage is, y'all? You know marriage is going to end when we go to heaven? Like, you will no longer be married to your earthly spouse. That was just a temporary blessing and trial. Come on, let's get real for a moment. Nobody will ever try you like your spouse. All right, y'all back. Y'all don't back me up if you don't. Okay, come on. Testify. Nobody will ever push your Let me just rephrase it so we can all ingest it here. Nobody knows how to push your buttons like your spouse. What is that? Tell you what that is. Marriage is God's mechanism of character perfection that would not happen otherwise. Marriage is not a healer. It's a revealer. It will challenge you to grow or die. I don't care how romantic it started. I don't care how much you love each other. It will challenge you to grow or die. The person you marry will never complete you. That is not the Bible. That there is no human alive that is designed to complete you. If you are incomplete before marriage, you will be incomplete after marriage. But now you're able to damage more than just yourself.
What does the Bible say? Colossians 2:10. And ye are complete and ye are complete not in your spouse and ye are complete not in your partner and ye are complete not in your boyfriend and your girlfriend. We are complete in him. Your spouse was never designed to heal your wounds. Your spouse was never designed to fix you. Your spouse was never designed to fill your void. No spouse on planet earth has enough virtue to help someone who is in their flesh. No spouse on earth has enough wisdom to help a partner who hasn't found completeness in Jesus. But there's such good news. Jesus is designed to fill your void. Jesus is designed to heal your wound. Jesus is designed to tweak your personality. Jesus is designed to take up the difference and make up the difference so you can be the spouse that God has intended for your spouse. I want to be the spouse that God has intended me to be for Sister Jessica. But I'm not going to be that spouse unless I'm complete in him.
I want to tell you everybody that's single, do not rush. Do not rush to be with someone. Loneliness is powerful. Loneliness is one of the most powerful formative mechanisms there is. Do not rush to be with someone. I have seen people because of loneliness make the dumbest decisions on planet Earth. Do not let loneliness determine who you pick. Don't rush to be with a spouse. Don't rush to be in a relation. Rush to be with him. I'm not listen I'm not talking about a fantasy world right here. I'm talking about reality.
Psalms 4 and 3. But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself. I like him alone and dedicated to me. What type of person is this? The Lord will hear when I call unto him. Young people, single adults, God has designed a season. Now, it's going to be different for everybody. My season was a bit extended. There's some people that their seasons are even longer than mine. God had a lot of work to do in my emotions. I tell my wife all the time, "My God, if I'd have got married in my 20s, I would have been a disaster. I was not whole. Jesus made me whole." And so that season is designed for you to find completeness in him. Invest in your singleness. Invest in your prayer life. Invest in the word. You will never ever regret it.
I'm going to stop right here. Why don't we stand and lift our hands and our voices. I want you to pray for our young people. I want you to pray for our young adults. I want you to pray for each other. Let's just pray right now. God, help us to invest in our relationships. Help us to invest in our relationship with God. Help us to invest in prayer and fasting and the word of God. Help us to read beyond uh uh the word of God. Help us lead us to the books that give us understanding in these things. Lead us to the right marriage books. Lead us to God the right uh uh speakers, the right podcasts. Lead us to the right mentors God that we can understand what steps to take, what to avoid, God, help us to have wisdom. Your way is truly better. My way is not better. Your way is truly better, God, but my way looks so good. Help me not to fall for the deception of how good my will looks. Uh God, your will looks ugly sometimes. Help me to see in the spirit how beautiful it actually is. Uh God, I pray for our young people right now. I pray for our young adults that are moving into the stage of teenage and later teenage and young adults. I pray for our single adults right now. I pray for our single parent households right God in the name of the Lord Jesus. Let your grace and your wisdom. Come on, somebody lift your voice for just a moment. Let your grace and your wisdom come upon them. Uh give them guidance, give them instruction uh be that friend that sticks closer than a brother. Oh God, let your word come into their mind. Remove every blockage to the light. Uh remove every blockage to that revelation uh of what path to take, what decision to make. God, you will sustain them. Uh you will keep them through every season. Uh your grace is sufficient in that time of need. Uh we ask you for that mercy and that grace and that favor in the name of Jesus. Uh Christian Life Center will have wonderful marriages. Uh we will have young people that do it God's way. And they will be a shining example. They're going to be somebody everybody looks at and says, "That's how I want to do it. Look at so-and-so." They waited on God's will. Uh that's how I want to do it. Uh that's how I want to do. God, raise them up. Uh I pray that you would promote in this church uh shining examples of people that are doing it right. Uh lift them up, God, for all to see. Uh this is how you do the will of God. Uh this is how you obey the will of God. Uh in the name of Jesus we pray. Everybody say in Jesus name. In Jesus name. Say it one more time. In Jesus name. In Jesus name. Would you clap your hands one more time to the Lord and let's praise him for instruction and wisdom. Praise God. You may be seated. Bible quiz can come on up and give their presentation. If you've not signed up for our marriage weekend, February 13th and 14th, please sign up immediately. Uh we've got I what's the exact number, Sister Crystal, at this stage? 21 couples have signed up. It's going to be amazing. Um Sister Ivonne sent me the menu today. My God, it's going to be good. It's going to be well worth it. Praise God. We love you. Bible quiz. Let's give it up for our Bible quizzers. Praise the Lord. It's interesting. You don't want to be the person after that message. I come up right afterwards. It's kind of weird. But um I'm up here to celebrate our Bible quizzers and um all their accomplishments this month. Um we had a tournament this last weekend um from Thursday to Sunday in Orlando. They got to stay at the Orlando hotel or the Florida Motel and they got to quiz teams from all over the nation, Arizona, Texas, all the different states. It's like a mini nationals and we had our largest um group to come and um we're going to go through each of our divisions. We're going to start with our beginner division um which was coached by uh sis she up here. I'm gonna do beginner three. Sister Amanda, come on. So this year, um, we got I got to be the coach for Jaliss and Sloan. Um, and they did amazing. They practiced so hard. They're doing like an hour a day, um, at school, after church. They're just like putting in the work. Sloan is like buzzing in. She knows every answer correct. She's doing so good. Jaliss is going after it. Um, we won one game, lost two games, and Jalice got two second place ribbons. One was for 40 points and one was for 80 points. And I'm just so proud of all they accomplished. Me and Kiar, we coached Ellie and Omari. Um, we the first team we played was very hard. That was Colia. They were eight years old and our babies were just I mean they're they're doing so good though. I mean they went in there, they were strong, they were confident, they answered, they buzzed in multiple times and almost got everyone right. Right. But the other team, they were they're experienced. They were very fast and they were interrupting like crazy. They did a very good job. So this is our third beginner team. These two well one, two, three. Sorry. Beginner one. Sorry. These two, they are committed. They work hard and they have a good time and they're just so quick and smart. That buzzing is like 01 second behind each other. They're just so fast. Um, they won two. The funny thing is there was this one team that the guy, he was the first place wizard in beginners. He was like the gold medalist and only two people beat this kid. And this was one of the teams that beat him. So, the potential, we're just going to fire them up. Yes, Charlie got a first place and a second place ribbon. We're so proud of all of our beginners. We had three beginner teams and they all did so good. Um, we've got tournaments every month, so it's exciting to see different ones uh stand out at different tournaments, sometimes get their first ribbon or multiple ribbons. Um, I saw some of them interrupting and just advancing um, with the Bible quizzing. So, we're so proud of them. All of our beginner coaches, everybody that stepped up. I got to watch several of their games and I was so proud of all of them. Um, this year, I'm trying to see which one's which here. Um, I get to do the junior quiz team. Every year I think I'm not going to coach, but this year we had so many kids join that we were low on coaches. So I am um the official coach of the junior team. If y'all want to step up, Micah, Sienna, Benjamin. And um these Micah is an experienced junior quizzer, but Sienna and Benjamin, this is their first year in juniors, and I'm so proud of how they performed at this tournament. Um, there were people from Arizona, Indiana, I mean you name it, they were just all kinds of states that came and represented at this tournament and um they really did an amazing job. Sienna got her first ribbon of the year. She got a second place ribbon for 35 points and we're so proud of her for that. At the tournament, both Benjamin and Sienna were interrupting and getting those correct which takes a lot of skill. So, I'm very proud of them for how they performed. And Micah, of course, did an amazing job. Um, he got, let's see, one, two, three, four, five, six first place ribbons. Did I count wrong? They are 90 points, 70 points, 150 points, 85 points, 130, and 90 points. Excellent job. And he performed so well again for the second tournament of the year. He was the highest scoring individual out of the junior division. So we're so Oh, he wants to make sure you know second time in a row this year. And as a team, they placed third place at the Florida Invitational Tournament. Great job, junior. So proud of them. Um, this is our first year, as you already know, or some of you may not know, this is our first year having a senior team. They last tournament they were in the rookie division with all first year teams and got first place. And we did one scrimmage, but this is the first time they've actually played with all of the regular senior team people who've been quizzing for like since they were born. And so my goal for them was that they would go and get some experience and come back with a couple of ribbons. But they have completely entirely outdid themselves. I've been very impressed. Our seniors are at was it 176 72 verses something like 172 verses of scripture in um the time that they've been there. And um I want to start out with um the individual awards. So, David got second pl highest score in two quizzes. Uh, 55 and 40 points. I don't have uh Josiah also got um a second place ribbon for the 90 points. David got three first place ribbons, 110 points, 160 points, and 110 points. Josiah got two first place ribbons. Uh, that's the quiz number. 130 points and 100 points. And um they have this thing called the all tournament team which is where they get a medal for being the top within the top of the top and the um they have to come from they have to win a certain amount of quizzes and they do equivalent averages. But David got third place on the all tournament team. And if I could have the other two, our other two seniors come up because they worked very hard together as a team to get a first place in the state of Florida, but third place for the whole tournament. I especially am proud of senior quizzers because it's not as the junior quizzes, they do a great job. They have to memorize the verses. The senior quizzers have to memorize the doctrine, relate it between multiple books, all of that. So, there's a lot of extra studying beyond memorizing the verses and they've all worked very very hard. Um, I have to share this one story of Brillin because Brillan um buzzed in at the tournament and a a feeling of shock came over her like I just buzzed in like what did I just do? I can't even remember the question, but she buzzed in on it and she was like, it was like I think it was something about who formed the earth to be inhabited or something like that. And she's going through every verse of the scriptures, all of them, all of them just freeze it. And then she just like go and then the whole room is like and the coach magic goes that is correct. And she won a a question that got us a very high place. And Isaiah, oh my goodness, she did an amazing job. Um, she got a couple of key rereads that really put us ahead and help us to get our things. So, we're proud of all of our quizzers. Thank you so much all of our quizzers. We also want to say thank you to the church um for all of your support for Bible quizzing and buying all of our snacks and things. Speaking of which, where is sister? Oh. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. All right. So, we're going to hear from all of our quizzers real quick. If you don't want to share a verse, just pass it down. Here we go. Acts 17:24. God that made the world and nothing therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands. Psalms 119:7. Oh, how well I thy law. It is my meditation all the day. He was born 12. For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two sword piercing even to the dividing the sun and soul spirit and of the joints of mar and is a discerner of thoughts and intents of the heart. John 1:1. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. Exodus 24:12. And the Lord said unto Moses, "Come up to me and to the mountain and be there. I want to give thee to stone and along a treasure that thou mayest teach." 1 Timothy 3:16. And without controversy. Great is the mystery of godliness. Who was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. Isaiah 43:1. I even I am the Lord and beside me there is no savior. Colossians 3:16. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." Romans 6:16. "Know ye not to whom you yield yourself servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness." Isaiah 43:10. "You are my witnesses, sayith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he. Before me, there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me." Yeah. Jeremiah 15:16. "Thy word, thy words were found, and I did eat them, and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart, for I'm called by thy name, oh Lord, God of hosts." Revelation 1:8. "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, sayeth the Lord, which is and which was and which is to come, the Almighty."
All right, we are so proud of all of you quizzers. Amazing job. We are so proud of you. Y'all have represented Christian Life Center so well. We are extremely proud of every one of you. Amazing job. They work so hard. And honestly, when Christian Life Center comes on the bracket, the other churches get a little bit nervous. I love it. Um, but we had a great time. For those of you that ever um start seeing these um promotions and our pictures, um always come talk to Brother Kyrie and Sister Christina because um we we do this every year and it's a lot of fun. It's a lot of work. Um, a lot of hard work, but it's instilling amazing discipline. Um, and teaching them so many character-building moments beyond just memorizing the word of God, which is amazing in itself, but all the things that they are learning um, as we do these tournaments and the thing that's being imparted to them, learning to work as a team, land, handling winning, handling losing, being a good sport. There's just so much that we learn from it. And then besides all that, we have a lot of fun. We got to go and hang out at the Florida mall together. They all got to eat in the food court all the time. We went and did an escape room. We got to go shopping. There was just all kinds of fun things. So, we love to just reward and bless these kids for all the hard work that they are doing every day memorizing the word of God. But if you are ever interested in Bible quizzing, uh maybe not even for this year, but for the next year coming up, make sure you talk to Brother and Sister Heron and they will give you direction on that. Um, quickly, uh, two things I want to mention about the fundraisers that are going on. I know you see the Texas Roadhouse stuff in the lobby. Those do all have a coupon for a free appetizer on them. So, if you go out there and buy them, you also get an addition of free appetizer at the Texas Roadhouse right up the road. Um, and then next Sunday night, everybody say, "Next Sunday." We are going to do um the dessert auction just like we did last year which we had a great time. Brother Kyrie was like made to be an auctioneer. Um, it was really fun and it was a huge blessing to our Bible quizzers to help give us that boost before Extravaganza in March uh where we have two really big tournaments for our senior and junior division. So, next Sunday night, right after service in the fellowship hall, we're going to have a whole bunch of desserts on display and you will go in there and place your bids and the highest bidder gets to take home an amazing homemade dessert. Um, our Bible Quiz families are all going to be contributing. And then if anybody in the church, you're just an amazing baker and you would like to just donate a cake or a dessert of some sort to Bible quizzing, please let myself or Brother Kyrie know, Sister Christina, and we'll add you to the list and that will go towards the auctioning on Sunday night and every bit of that will go towards sending them to the next tournament at Extravaganza in March. Um, thank you so much.
Praise God. Thank you for your attention. We're about to have a baptism. You can come on up in just a moment. I want to encourage you. Everybody say, "February is for families." Get in a marriage book. How many of you are married? Would you commit to reading a marriage book together this month? Let's do it. Let's do it. God will help you. Why don't we all stand in honor of the name of Jesus? And then after this you can consider yourself dismissed. God bless you. Thank you for your faithfulness. Nicholas Edward Leblanc, we now baptize you in the name of Jesus for the remission of sin. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Praise God. God bless you, CLC. We love you. We'll see you Tuesday for Growth Night. Wednesday for service.