0:07 One of our readings from a few weeks ago was in Psalm 68, I believe, where it was David being chased or had to escape after Absalom had tried to overthrow him. And he writes there, "Oh Lord, you are my shield, my glory, 0:24 and the lifter of my head." I thought maybe we could start with that. Uh my keyboard, you can turn on. Uh my glory and the lifter of my head. My glory and the lifter of my head. My glory and the lifter of my head. 0:40 For thou, oh Lord, art a shield for [singing] me, my glory and the lifter of my head. I cried unto the Lord with my voice. [singing] I cried unto the Lord with my voice. 0:59 I cried unto the Lord with my voice, [singing] and he heard me out of his holy hill. My glory and the lifter of my Yes, lift your head up, church. My glory and the lifter of my head. 1:18 For thou, oh [singing] Lord, art a shield for me, my glory and [singing] the lifter of my head. 1:38 Heavenly Father, I pray that we will truly sing as those who have their had their heads lifted [music] up. Thank you, Lord. We look back on your faithfulness even up to this day. We woke up this morning. >> [music] >> You gave us breath. We are still here in 1:51 the land of the living. We still have an opportunity for you to work in our lives through with Spirit. [music] So, Lord, I pray that not only our singing, but our whole lives will be for the glory of heaven. Sing from your hearts, family. 2:03 Let's sing loud. >> Let me sing for the glory of heaven. Like a sunbeam [singing] has swept o'er my heart. >> [music] >> I would praise thee for sins all [singing] forgiven. For thy love which shall never [singing] 2:25 depart. If thy works praise thee, [singing and music] giver of good. If the sunshine is praised [singing and music] unto thee. If the wind as [singing and music] it 2:41 sighs through the wood. Makes a murmur [singing] of song from each tree. >> Then these [music] lips >> Then these lips sure a tribute [singing] shall bring. Though unworthy the praises [singing] 3:00 must be. Shall [music] all nature be vocal and sing. And no song of rejoicing from [music and singing] me. >> Sing to our redeemer. >> Oh, wonderful, [singing] glorious 3:18 redeemer. I would worship thee, [singing and music] savior divine. And rejoice though surrounded [singing] [music] with Thou will still hear a song such [singing] 3:38 as [music] mine. >> Isn't it wonderful to think that God who is surrounded by all the praises of angels who have never sinned, the saints who have [music] been sanctified and made pure in his presence still loves to hear 3:54 the songs of those whom he is still in the process of redeeming, still in the process of sanctifying. So, brother, sister, no matter where you are today, no matter what still needs to be changed in you, if your heart is cleansed by the 4:07 blood of Jesus Christ, [music] if you're living with a clear conscience because of Christ's blood, sing from your heart. Sing for the glory of heaven. Amen. >> How I praise thee, precious Savior, [singing] 4:23 that thy love held on to me. Thou hast saved [singing] and cleansed and [music] filled me, that I might Let's clap and sing. Channels only. Channels only, blessed [music] Master, [singing] 4:39 but with all thy wondrous power flowing through us, thou [singing and music] canst use us every day and every hour. Just a channel [singing and music] full 4:55 of blessing to the thirsty hearts around, to tell out thy full [singing and music] salvation, all thy loving message sound. Channels only, [singing and music] blessed 5:10 Master, but with all thy wondrous power flowing through [music] us, thou [singing] canst use us every day and every hour. Empty that [singing and music] thou 5:27 shouldest fill me, with the vessel in thy [singing] hand, with no power but [music] as thou givest graciously [singing] with each command. Channels only, blessed Master, but with [music and singing] all thy wondrous 5:47 power, flowing through us, Thou canst use us [music] every day [singing] and every hour. Witnessing [music and singing] Thy power to save me, setting free [music] from self and sin. 6:05 Thou hast brought [singing] me to possess me. >> [music] >> In Thy fullness, Lord, come in. Channels only, [singing] blessed [music] Master, but with all thy wondrous power, [singing] flowing through us, Thou canst use us 6:24 every [music] day and every hour. >> [music] >> Jesus, fill now with Thy Spirit hearts that full [singing] surrender know, that the streams of living water from our inner [singing] 6:43 man may flow. [music] Channels only, blessed Master, [singing] but with all thy wondrous [music] power, flowing [singing] through us, Thou canst use us every day and every hour. Sing it again, channels only. 7:00 Channels only, blessed Master, [music and singing] but with all thy wondrous power, flowing through [singing] us, Thou canst [music] use us every day and every [music] hour. >> We hear much about the Holy Spirit and 7:21 His work in the world today, in Christendom. But there's one purpose that the Holy Spirit has been sent, and that is to conform us into the image of Jesus, to draw us to our eventual destination, and this is it, dear brothers, sisters, 7:37 children, >> [music] >> and friends. This is our destination. It is God himself. Not joy, not peace, not blessing, >> [music] >> not comfort, not a nice life, not even his answering our prayers, but God himself. And when we have him, 7:53 we have all we need. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, [music] and he will add everything. What is it that you're carrying today, dear friend? Is it a Is there a burden about some earthly need, some spiritual need even? 8:08 He's here to carry that burden for you. He said, "Cast all your cares upon me, for I care for you." Let's spend a few minutes in consecration and prayer. Consecration means giving your life afresh to the Lord today. He doesn't ask for your money. He 8:21 doesn't ask for any other earthly gift. He asks for your body as a living sacrifice. That means your eyes, how you use your eyes, your tongue, how you use your tongue, your ears, what you listen to, your feet, where they take you, your hands, what 8:37 you do with them, your mind, how you apply it, what you think about. This he asks to lay on the altar this morning afresh. I beseech you, brothers and sisters, we are we are told, by the mercies of God, because he's been merciful to you, 8:53 offer your body, present your bodies to him as a living sacrifice. And don't think more highly of yourself than you ought to think. That you deserve to use your body or you deserve God to give you something. But offer it to him as a sacrifice. That 9:07 means he can burn up anything of yours today, but he will be pleased by it, and you will He will never fail anyone who has committed their lives fully to him. So, pray with me. Pray in your own words. Lift up your heart to him. Give 9:21 him praise. Give him thanks. Give him your life. Commit your life to him. Tell him truly from your heart that you surrender everything to him, and oh, what joy you will have now and in eternity. Heavenly Father, I thank you. We give you praise and glory 9:37 and honor. Truly, thou art worthy of all glory and honor and praise. Forever you will be, Lord Jesus, the lamb upon the throne. And I pray, Lord, you will captivate us even more today with your glory, your majesty, your love, more of 9:51 who you are, so that we will be less taken up with the things of this earth, less taken up with our own needs and our own wants and our own comforts, but taken up with your purpose and who you are, cuz you are God and we are flesh. 10:05 Here we are on earth. Let our words be few. Let our demands be zero because you are God. We are clay, you are the potter. Have your way with us, Lord. We really mean it. Sometimes it's hard where when we're in the middle of 10:17 circumstances to let you have your way, but today we pray that you will fill us with your Holy Spirit who works in us both to will and to do your good pleasure. So, do that, Lord. Give us that willpower that not that's not a 10:29 human willpower, but the spirit-filled willpower to do your will and the ability to do it also when we're faced with that situation. To choose your will, to say not my will, but yours in every circumstance. Make it so, Lord. We 10:43 don't want to just to be words on a Sunday morning that we say when everything feels good, but it want to be in the in the gritty part of the week that we will face this week perhaps or in the days to come that we will truly 10:53 say, "Let your will be done." Hear our cry, Lord. That's our prayer. We pray for any who are in a spiritual battle where the devil has a foothold in any person's life from the youngest to the oldest, anyone where the devil has 11:05 harassed them or oppressed them or they're bound by any sin, addicted to bad habits or other sin, Lord, I pray in the name of Jesus you will loose them. You said you gave us the ability the power to loose on earth and it would be 11:17 loosed in the heavenlies where the devil is and to bind on this earth and it would be bound in the heavenlies. So, Lord, I pray that you will bind the work of Satan if he has a foothold in anyone's life that you will resist him, Lord, in the 11:29 name of Jesus. Thank you, Lord. I pray for every marriage that's represented in this room. Whatever condition it may be in, Lord, I pray you will knit our hearts together as husbands and wives more deeply. You You said that our 11:41 marriages here on this earth ought to be a picture of the spiritual relationship between you and the church. Make it so, Lord. You wouldn't have commanded us to love our wives as you love the church and for wives to have that relationship 11:53 with you as the church has with Christ if it wasn't possible and if you didn't give us the power of the Holy Spirit to do it. So, Lord, will you make our homes a little bit more of a taste of heaven? Make our marriages a little bit more of 12:04 a taste of heaven, Lord, so that the world around us can see that it's not just a human improvement that they were were counting how many days or years we've been married, but we're tasting heaven in our homes. And do that work in 12:15 our children as well. Will you lay a hold of our children from the youngest to the oldest? You said the Holy Spirit, the gift of the Spirit, was for our children as well. And you gave us this promise in this church that all of our 12:25 children would be taught of the Lord and not one of them would be lost. So, Lord, we ask again that you will fulfill that promise that every child that's here, a part of this church, or listening to this prayer, for parents who who are 12:36 pleading for their children or their grandchildren, Lord, I pray that you will do that work and save our children, save our young people. And I pray that your light will shine into their dark hearts, that they will turn from the 12:47 world and turn to you and be gripped by the kingdom that is to come, which will last forever. And be taken up with you, Lord Jesus, more than anything else of this earth. I thank you that you're raising up another generation of young 12:57 people who want to serve you, want to love you, who know your word, who are young men and women of prayer, who are interceding for others on their behalf, who are bold to share the gospel and to be witnesses of you, Lord. I I pray 13:09 you'll continue to fill them and and help them, Lord, in whatever trial and struggles they go through, that they will truly take this life seriously. Free them from hypocrisy and Phariseeism, that they'll grow up to really know the power of God in their 13:21 lives. Thank you, Lord, that you're raising up You're preparing us for your coming by knitting the hearts, restoring the hearts of the children to the fathers and the fathers to the children and the and for our mothers as well. 13:33 Thank you, Lord, you're doing that. Your coming is soon. Help us to be ready. Let our gentleness be known to all, Lord, because your day the day of your return is very near. We commit our earthly needs to you as well for those who are 13:44 sick. Some who are sick can't be here today. Others who deal with constant pain in their bodies, will you, the healing God, lay your hands upon them and bring healing, we pray. Thank you, Lord, that you are still the God, Jesus, 13:56 who walked on this earth and healed any who came to you in faith. So, Lord, lay those same nail-pierced hands on any who need a touch from you this morning and heal them. We have no authority in ourselves, no power in ourselves, Lord, 14:08 but as your hands here on this earth as the church, we can pray, we can lay hands on those that need healing and believe that the fervent effectual prayer of righteous people will accomplish much. And so, you will fulfill that, Lord. Thank you for the 14:21 our material needs that we can submit to you as well. Thank you for the jobs you've given us to provide for our families so that we don't have to be dependent on others. I pray you'll continue to provide for us. Teach us, 14:32 Lord, not to fix our minds on the passing things of this earth, but on eternal things. No matter how much you give us, help us to be content and let us let our character be free from the love of money, we pray. Help us to seek 14:44 your kingdom and your righteousness first, knowing that you take up the responsibility to provide for all of our needs. Thank you, Lord, that you're a caring God. We cast all our cares. I pray that anybody who walked into this 14:56 room carrying even one burden, even one care, perhaps one that they were too afraid to admit to anybody around them, that they will lay it at your feet and leave it there because you care for us. Thank you, heavenly Father. You've heard 15:08 this prayer. You've heard the prayer of every sincere believing heart today, even the ones who say, "Lord, help my unbelief. I have been unbelieving this last week, but I don't want to be. I want to trust you more." Jesus, Jesus, how we trust you. How we 15:22 proved you over and over and over for grace to trust you more. Give us this grace, Lord, I pray. A deeper trust that you will take us through even deeper trials perhaps this week on the days to come and you will see in us that 15:36 delightful thing in your eyes, faith, that increases, Lord, according to the circumstance. Praise you. Give you all the glory and honor and praise in Jesus' name. Amen. >> [singing] [music] 15:56 [singing] [singing and music] [music] [singing] [music] 16:17 [singing] [music] [singing and music] >> Yes, any cost. >> [music] [music and singing] 16:39 [singing] [music] [singing] [singing and music] [singing and music] 17:03 [singing] [singing] [music] >> Oh, he will lead you. >> No [singing and music] matter 17:24 if [singing] the way be [music] sometimes dark. No matter [singing] though the cost be oftentimes [singing and music] great. He 17:41 knoweth how >> [singing] >> I best shall [music] reach some. >> He knows best. Thank you, Lord. >> The [singing and music] way that leads to Him [singing and music] must needs be straight. 18:04 One thing [singing] I know, I cannot >> [singing and music] >> say Him nay. One thing I do, I press [singing and music] towards 18:22 my Lord, my >> [singing] >> God, my glory, here from [singing and music] day to day. And [singing and music] in the glory, there my grace [music] 18:43 will be. >> [singing] >> We're told in the book of James chapter 5, I think it's verse 12 or so, that you know the example of Job, how he went through suffering and his patience. And the literal word there is the end of 19:03 the Lord. You know the end of the Lord. And I think about it like this. If God had an end, he does have no end. He's without beginning and with no end. But if you could if he did have an end, it would be this. That he is faithful and full of mercy. 19:20 He's patient and full of mercy. There is a wideness in God's mercy. And often we we think we've been merciful to somebody because we've forgiven them perhaps. But the mercy of God is far wider, far greater than we'll ever know. 19:37 And as we sing often, Lord, help me to be merciful as the one thing that God said we must be. Jesus said we must be as our Father is. Perfect. As our Father is perfect in mercy. Is there somebody you haven't forgiven, dear friend? Is there somebody you're 19:53 holding a grudge against? Jesus said that if you don't forgive even one person here on this earth, Matthew 6:12 13, 14, 15. He said it three times. If you don't forgive even one person here on this earth, your Father in heaven will not forgive. 20:10 Release them today, brother, sister, child, friend. There's somebody you're holding something against, release them. Ask God to give you a little bit more of his spirit of mercy. To show you a little bit of how merciful 20:23 he's been to you, to us. And then we will find we're merciful to others. It's the one who's forgiven much and knows that they've been forgiven much, who loves much. Loves God much. Loves others much. Is quick to forgive. 20:36 Covers a multitude of sins. Is patient. Bears all things. Hopes all things. Believes all things. Because they know they've been forgiven much. So as we sing this hymn, we've sung it before, [music] you can meditate on the words. Don't let it 20:49 fly by you. We make his love too narrow. We sing in this song by false limits of our own. We put limits on his love because of his holiness. And then we think it's God's holiness or strictness. 21:08 But, may we know him more fully that as we grow closer to him in holiness, in freedom from the things of this world, in freedom from sin, that [music] we are also increasing in mercy towards others. Let's sing it prayerfully, family. 21:24 >> There is wideness in God's [music] mercy, like the wideness of the sea. [singing] There's a kindness [music] in his justice, [singing] which is more than liberty. [music] 21:42 There is [singing] welcome for the sinner, >> [music] >> and more graces for the good. There is mercy with the [singing and music] savior. There is healing in his blood. >> [music] 22:03 >> There is [singing] no place where [music] earth's sorrows are more felt [singing] than up in heaven. There is no place where earth's failings [singing] have such kindly [music] judgment given. There is plentiful [singing and music] 22:23 redemption in the blood that has been shed. There is joy [singing] for all the members in [music] the sorrows [singing] of the head. >> Think about what we just sang. There is joy >> [music] >> for every member 22:42 because Jesus suffered. Because of his sorrow. Think about the person that's [music] going through a a difficult time, or even that person who has hurt you because of sin in their life. And the grief it causes our head, 22:56 Jesus Christ, that he died for that person who has wronged you. There is joy through repentance in the sorrows of the head. Give us this heart, Lord, we [music] pray. Verse three. But we make His love >> But we make [singing] 23:11 His love too narrow by false [music] limits [singing] of our own, and we magnify His strictness [music] with a zeal He will not own. For the love of God is broader than the 23:30 >> [singing] >> measure of the mind, and the [music] heart [singing] of the eternal is most wonderfully kind. [singing] [music] If our love were but more faithful, we [music and singing] should take Him 23:49 at His word, and [music and singing] our life would be thanksgiving for the goodness [singing] of the [music] Lord. >> We'll sing that last line again. If our love were but more faithful, [music] we should take Him at His word, 24:08 and our life would truly be thanksgiving. Think about how God wants to [music] replace unforgiveness with thanksgiving. He will do that. >> If our love [singing] were but more [music] faithful, we should take [singing] Him at His 24:24 word, and our [music] life would be thanksgiving [singing] for the for the goodness of >> [music] >> the Lord. >> Make it so, Lord. Make it be so that we go about [music] doing good as You did. >> Sitting 24:44 at [singing and music] the feet of Jesus, oh, what words I hear [singing and music] Him say. Happy [music] place so near, so [singing] precious, may it find [music] me very 25:07 day. Sitting at the feet [singing and music] of Jesus, I would look upon [music] the past. For [singing] His love [music] has been so gracious, it has won 25:26 [singing] my heart at [music] last. Sitting at [singing and music] the feet of Jesus, where can mortal be more blessed? [singing and music] There I lay my sins and sorrows, 25:47 >> [singing] >> and when weary [music] find sweet rest. Sitting at [music] the [singing] feet of Jesus, there I love to [music] weep and pray. 26:07 While I from [singing and music] His fullness gather >> [singing and music] >> grace and comfort every day. Before we sing this [music] next verse, I want us to look at the words we're about to sing. Bless me, oh my Savior, 26:24 bless me. What is the blessing you're looking for? Is it something earthly that he'll that will be gone in a few days or a few years? Don't look for that, friend. Don't [music] look for that, brother. God will take care of all 26:35 your needs, but this is the blessing we seek. To to have Him look down upon us and to see His [music] face so sweet. Oh, if you could see the face of Jesus, if we could see the face of Jesus a little bit more clearly [music] this 26:50 week, it will be the best week we've ever had. Look for that blessing, brothers and sisters, children. Look for that blessing. >> [singing] [music] [singing] 27:12 [singing and music] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] 27:33 [music] [music] [singing] [music and singing] >> Think what a life for those around us as 27:53 well, our family members, our co-workers, those we cross on the street, that they see here's somebody who's been with Jesus. The sweetness and the fragrance of Christ is upon us. Make it so, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen.
