WEBVTT 00:00:00.100 --> 00:00:06.168 So if you've got your Bibles, why don't you lift them up and wave them around and make Jesus glad and the devil mad? 00:00:06.168 --> 00:00:10.885 I hope all the rest of you that are not members, that are just kind of tuning in, I hope you've got a Bible near you. 00:00:10.885 --> 00:00:12.965 It'd be worth your time to get it. 00:00:12.965 --> 00:00:21.205 And let's say this together say heavenly Father, I'm glad to be watching tonight because I have a teachable spirit. 00:00:21.205 --> 00:00:24.327 I'm hungry and thirsty for the Word of God. 00:00:24.327 --> 00:00:44.270 Holy Spirit, give illumination to my spirit and understanding so that my faith will grow and that my spirit will develop and that my courage will increase in these days, because I wanna shine my light in the midst of darkness. 00:00:44.270 --> 00:01:09.433 In Jesus' name, amen, amen, amen, all right, I wanna read a couple of verses and I'm gonna be reading them out of the Message Bible tonight Isaiah 60, verses one through three, and also we're gonna be looking at Acts, the 17th chapter. 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:16.409 First of all, I'll read Isaiah 60 in the Message and verse one. 00:01:16.409 --> 00:01:23.751 It says get out of bed, jerusalem, wake up, put your face in the sunlight. 00:01:23.751 --> 00:01:28.849 God's bright glory has risen for you. 00:01:28.849 --> 00:01:32.248 The whole earth is wrapped in darkness. 00:01:32.248 --> 00:01:38.028 All people sunk in deep darkness, but God rises on you. 00:01:38.028 --> 00:01:41.528 His sunrise glory breaks over you. 00:01:41.528 --> 00:01:42.742 Isn't that good. 00:01:42.742 --> 00:01:45.365 It says to wake up and get up. 00:01:45.365 --> 00:01:55.183 And then also in Acts, the 17th chapter, we're gonna read out of verse. 00:01:55.183 --> 00:01:59.453 I believe it's 26. 00:01:59.453 --> 00:02:07.183 Sorry about that. 00:02:07.183 --> 00:02:15.560 Now I'll start reading in verse 24. 00:02:15.560 --> 00:02:28.909 The God who made the world and everything in it, this master of sky and land, doesn't live in custom made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn't take care of himself. 00:02:28.909 --> 00:02:31.063 He makes the creatures. 00:02:31.063 --> 00:02:32.508 The creatures don't make him. 00:02:32.508 --> 00:02:36.207 Starting from scratch, this is the verse. 00:02:36.207 --> 00:02:54.026 Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living, so we could seek after God and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. 00:02:54.026 --> 00:02:55.502 Isn't that good? 00:02:55.502 --> 00:03:00.923 And so tonight I wanted to preach a message entitled Rise and Shine. 00:03:00.923 --> 00:03:03.531 Rise and Shine. 00:03:03.531 --> 00:03:07.550 The church is entering its finest hour. 00:03:08.860 --> 00:03:18.432 Yes, there's darkness and disorder and confusion and out there, and every model, every prediction was wrong. 00:03:18.432 --> 00:03:24.707 And some people are so glad they're covering up their error by stating oh, we're so glad we're wrong. 00:03:24.707 --> 00:03:29.645 Well, isn't that letting themselves off a little too easy, I think. 00:03:29.645 --> 00:03:31.747 Of course we don't wanna see people die. 00:03:31.747 --> 00:03:36.667 Of course we don't wanna see anybody infected, and so we're glad the numbers are less. 00:03:36.667 --> 00:03:38.044 But what about it? 00:03:38.044 --> 00:03:40.585 If they'd been accurate, we wouldn't have shut the country down. 00:03:40.585 --> 00:03:50.868 And a bunch of little tin horn dictators all over the country not just here in Harris County, but all over the country have risen up and they've decided that they could rule in rain over us. 00:03:50.868 --> 00:03:54.265 I mean, socialism is breaking out in every corner of the nation. 00:03:54.265 --> 00:04:00.868 How could they have done that except to bring fear and panic and confusion? 00:04:03.723 --> 00:04:05.367 And you better not argue the facts. 00:04:05.367 --> 00:04:08.326 I mean, you know people don't wanna hear the facts. 00:04:08.326 --> 00:04:17.487 They don't wanna hear the.000 percentage of people that are getting infected and even less than that that are dying. 00:04:17.487 --> 00:04:18.401 They don't wanna. 00:04:18.401 --> 00:04:19.906 Oh no, don't give us the facts. 00:04:19.906 --> 00:04:24.341 I mean COVID-19, and it's got all of a sudden. 00:04:24.341 --> 00:04:26.850 It's got the same in common with climate change. 00:04:26.850 --> 00:04:30.449 Have you ever tried to talk to somebody about climate change? 00:04:30.449 --> 00:04:32.786 And it's like talking to a brick wall. 00:04:32.786 --> 00:04:35.545 You can forget it Once they drank the Kool-Aid. 00:04:35.545 --> 00:04:37.029 There's no point. 00:04:37.029 --> 00:04:38.964 You can't give them facts. 00:04:38.964 --> 00:04:40.447 They don't wanna, they don't want a fact. 00:04:41.735 --> 00:04:45.913 Abortion oh, it's my, it's a woman's right and it's. 00:04:45.913 --> 00:04:51.463 It's been like a mantra now for 40 years and you're not going to change the people that are hardened to it. 00:04:51.463 --> 00:05:00.827 Socialism is just bursting out and they're all all these, all these things are linked together, and uh, and. 00:05:00.827 --> 00:05:04.605 So it's like they're saying don't threaten my religion. 00:05:04.605 --> 00:05:13.005 See, they don't call it a religion, but that's what it's like, it's a religion, it's a godless religion with man at the top of the heap. 00:05:13.005 --> 00:05:19.999 And uh, and and so really, maybe the correct word would be ideology, but it's hardened. 00:05:19.999 --> 00:05:21.509 Well, pastor, you, you don't. 00:05:21.509 --> 00:05:23.223 You don't think that people can get saved? 00:05:23.223 --> 00:05:31.194 Oh, I didn't say that I believe people can get saved, but we're not going to change society and you're not going to erase this out of America now. 00:05:31.194 --> 00:05:32.903 It's so deeply embedded. 00:05:32.903 --> 00:05:35.836 The best we can do is to get a harvest out of it. 00:05:35.836 --> 00:05:43.997 Let's not try to fool ourselves and think that we're going to change anybody's mind that's deeply involved in these things. 00:05:43.997 --> 00:05:47.754 They believe it is and that and that ideology. 00:05:47.754 --> 00:05:55.355 Just as much as we believe in Jesus and we believe in healing and we believe that Jesus is Lord, they believe it just as much. 00:05:55.355 --> 00:06:01.036 And so rise and shine, rise and shine church out of bed. 00:06:01.036 --> 00:06:04.485 Let's declare God's glory. 00:06:06.050 --> 00:06:11.391 And I was thinking about this act 17, about, you know, groping in the dark. 00:06:11.391 --> 00:06:12.656 It gave us plenty of room. 00:06:12.656 --> 00:06:14.788 You know where we could seek him. 00:06:14.788 --> 00:06:17.593 We don't, we don't have, we don't have to have social distance. 00:06:17.593 --> 00:06:19.982 We got plenty of room and we're not. 00:06:19.982 --> 00:06:22.963 We don't, we don't, we're not worried about being next to people. 00:06:24.048 --> 00:06:27.250 And I was thinking about how confused everything is out there. 00:06:27.250 --> 00:06:32.896 It seemed like every edict, every directive they have has an unintended consequence. 00:06:32.896 --> 00:06:42.916 You know, as far as essential services, liquor stores were essential and and I understand what their reasoning was. 00:06:42.916 --> 00:06:54.577 The reasoning was is because, you know, at beginning, see, this whole thing was all about the fear of our hospitals being overrun, which not only are they not overrun, they're just about empty. 00:06:54.577 --> 00:06:58.940 Okay, so that wasn't even in danger, but they thought it was. 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:13.223 And so, since they thought it was, they thought if we cut off alcohol to people who are addicted to alcohol, they're going to have a terrible withdrawal and they're going to show up in the emergency room and there's not going to be room for them and and people could dive alcohol poisoning and whatever and all of that. 00:07:13.223 --> 00:07:19.925 And so alcohol consumption has gone up 68%. 00:07:19.925 --> 00:07:23.298 I mean, that's quite a market share. 00:07:23.298 --> 00:07:36.055 I'm sure Wild Turkey is probably having parties, but anyway, and you've got, beer is up 40 something percent. 00:07:36.055 --> 00:07:54.177 So people are taking unhealthy See the unintended consequences is they're trying to save people from COVID and they're creating more alcoholics, they're creating more drunks, they're creating more dependence on alcohol right now and we're going to see the results of that after a short time. 00:07:54.177 --> 00:08:00.562 It's going to be bad and and so that's what you've got all this, this darkness out there. 00:08:00.622 --> 00:08:05.446 There's darkness, confusion, and I got to thinking about Genesis, chapter one. 00:08:05.446 --> 00:08:07.762 Let me just run back there just real quick. 00:08:07.762 --> 00:08:11.774 You can easily find it because it's the first book and the first verse in the Bible. 00:08:11.774 --> 00:08:20.021 Genesis one one, and most of us can quote it in the beginning, god created the heaven and the earth. 00:08:20.021 --> 00:08:28.016 And then it says and the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. 00:08:28.016 --> 00:08:33.220 Now, when you read that all at once, you think, well, how could that be? 00:08:33.220 --> 00:08:35.659 God never created anything without form and void. 00:08:35.659 --> 00:08:40.695 And so when you look at it, there seems to be a gap between verse one and verse two. 00:08:40.695 --> 00:08:41.860 It's called the gap theory. 00:08:41.860 --> 00:08:45.740 I can't prove that this is true what I'm gonna say, but you can't prove it isn't. 00:08:45.740 --> 00:08:54.039 And I believe it's reasonable to think that this is what happened In the beginning, god created the heaven and the earth and then there was a gap. 00:08:54.461 --> 00:09:00.462 The earth became without form and void and darkness is upon the face of the deep. 00:09:00.462 --> 00:09:05.995 So what he created originally was plunged into darkness and confusion. 00:09:05.995 --> 00:09:14.104 In fact, the Greek word I mean, excuse me, the Hebrew word there was out form and void is tohu v'obahu, which means all messed up. 00:09:14.104 --> 00:09:20.825 It's all messed up, and that's what the earth was at a particular moment. 00:09:20.825 --> 00:09:21.839 I happen to believe. 00:09:21.938 --> 00:09:28.955 Many others believe that when Jesus said I saw Satan as lightning fall from heaven, that that is what happened. 00:09:28.955 --> 00:09:31.455 He was really the God of this world to begin with. 00:09:31.455 --> 00:09:48.875 There was a pre-adamic creation and the devil sinned and was thrown out of heaven and God sent him back to his domain, which was the earth, and the lights went out for a long time and that's why, when they dig up these mastodons, they're able to dig these things up. 00:09:48.875 --> 00:09:57.154 They've got hair on them, they've got big tusks on them, they're preserved in these huge ice glaciers and they've got food in their belly. 00:09:57.154 --> 00:10:09.875 So it wasn't gradual, it was a deep freeze, it was instant, and that would tend to explain why that there are fossils and creatures. 00:10:09.875 --> 00:10:18.475 We see these creatures that look a little humanistic looking and so forth, and that gave birth to all of the theories of evolution and so forth and so on. 00:10:18.495 --> 00:10:25.522 I don't believe those, but I believe there was a pre-adamic creation, and so this word tohu vobahu. 00:10:25.522 --> 00:10:30.864 You see what was needed there, what had to happen before everything straightened out? 00:10:30.864 --> 00:10:34.875 What about the chaos, the cold, the darkness, gross darkness. 00:10:34.875 --> 00:10:36.660 I think you could say that's gross darkness. 00:10:36.660 --> 00:10:38.686 All right, verse three. 00:10:38.686 --> 00:10:44.355 And God said let there be light, light be, and there was light. 00:10:44.355 --> 00:10:57.215 So the first response that God had when he was ready to create the world and create everything in six days, including man, and rested on the seventh, that was not the first creation. 00:10:57.215 --> 00:10:58.922 There was another creation beyond that. 00:10:58.922 --> 00:11:01.134 Well, I don't believe that's what I thought to buy them. 00:11:01.134 --> 00:11:02.822 Well, I'm just saying that's a theory. 00:11:02.822 --> 00:11:04.119 You don't have to believe it. 00:11:04.119 --> 00:11:07.024 I'm just giving you, I think, a pretty good explanation. 00:11:07.024 --> 00:11:17.774 And the point is that light, or God's glory, is the stabilizing power that the world needs right now. 00:11:17.774 --> 00:11:22.321 Because it's tohu vobahu, out there, it's total chaos. 00:11:22.815 --> 00:11:23.839 I mean, you've got people. 00:11:23.839 --> 00:11:27.822 They're differing on their advice. 00:11:27.822 --> 00:11:30.423 I mean, first, don't wear a mask. 00:11:30.423 --> 00:11:31.264 Oh, don't wear a mask. 00:11:31.264 --> 00:11:32.355 Then they say wear a mask. 00:11:32.355 --> 00:11:37.059 Then they say, well, don't wear a mask because we need all the masks we can get for the medical people. 00:11:37.059 --> 00:11:40.865 And then back and forth and back and forth. 00:11:40.865 --> 00:11:43.102 Well, we think it's spread on surfaces. 00:11:43.102 --> 00:11:47.086 Now they think, well, it's not spread on surfaces, doesn't live very long. 00:11:47.086 --> 00:11:48.541 Oh, it's airborne. 00:11:48.541 --> 00:11:49.720 Well, no, it's not airborne. 00:11:49.720 --> 00:11:52.744 Well, somebody's got a cough on you. 00:11:52.744 --> 00:11:54.663 I haven't ever had anybody cough on me. 00:11:54.663 --> 00:11:58.380 I can't remember anybody coughing on me anywhere. 00:11:58.380 --> 00:12:02.080 I mean, it's just silly, they don't know. 00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:04.059 It's Tohu-Bobahu. 00:12:05.197 --> 00:12:21.979 If you're trying to get any kind of logic or sense or any kind of reasonable explanation, you're not getting it, but instead you're losing your freedoms left and right, you're losing money and our nation is being hurt in other ways that are going to become apparent. 00:12:21.979 --> 00:12:24.894 I tell you we need to shine. 00:12:24.894 --> 00:12:30.774 The remedy for any of this is for the church not to hide but to shine, to rise and shine, amen. 00:12:30.774 --> 00:12:32.813 Let's look at 2 Corinthians, 4. 00:12:32.813 --> 00:12:34.914 And I want you to be encouraged tonight. 00:12:34.914 --> 00:12:38.429 Just don't give in to this panic and fear. 00:12:38.429 --> 00:12:39.904 It's still out there. 00:12:39.904 --> 00:13:06.470 You know there was a big, long line the other day headed toward just past Champion Forest and Richie Road out here, and the line went through the intersection and kept going east down Richie all the way to that shopping center down the street and it came all the way past our driveway. 00:13:06.470 --> 00:13:12.914 Here on the side, at Richie Road, and halfway to the stop sign there's a lot of cars and evidently they were handing out food. 00:13:14.721 --> 00:13:16.732 And see, people are desperate. 00:13:16.732 --> 00:13:24.520 I think people are receiving food right now that have never asked for food before they're applying for unemployment. 00:13:24.520 --> 00:13:28.894 They've never had an unemployment check in their life, they've never applied for unemployment. 00:13:28.894 --> 00:13:38.875 I tell you we need things to change and God, I tell you, the light of God is that stabili-, the glory of God is that stabilizer. 00:13:38.875 --> 00:13:39.899 2 Corinthians 4. 00:13:41.965 --> 00:13:42.914 Let's look at verse 1. 00:13:42.914 --> 00:14:05.275 Therefore, seeing we have this ministry Paul's talking to Corinthians as we have received mercy, we faint not, but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, not handling the Word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. 00:14:05.275 --> 00:14:08.822 See, manifestation of the truth. 00:14:08.822 --> 00:14:12.279 See, that's what the church should be a manifestation of the truth. 00:14:12.279 --> 00:14:19.537 That's why I have been so adamant since this thing started, that it was based on lies, it was based on exaggeration. 00:14:19.537 --> 00:14:31.359 I'm sorry, but these are unelected government officials that got out of order and had press conferences when the President of the United States was out of the country and started this panic back in February. 00:14:31.359 --> 00:14:36.621 I haven't forgotten that, I took note of it and I spoke against it at the time. 00:14:36.621 --> 00:14:39.517 See, this is a manifestation of the truth. 00:14:39.859 --> 00:14:41.938 The church is the pillar and ground of the truth. 00:14:41.938 --> 00:14:46.914 The light reproves darkness, and darkness is all about lies and deception. 00:14:46.914 --> 00:14:58.802 But if our gospel be hid, it's hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world, or the God of this age, has blinded the minds of them which believe. 00:14:58.802 --> 00:15:10.842 Not lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them, for we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus, the Lord, in ourselves. 00:15:10.842 --> 00:15:14.409 Your servants, for Jesus' sake, now listen to this. 00:15:14.409 --> 00:15:24.461 For God who commanded the light to shine out of the darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 00:15:24.461 --> 00:15:27.658 What in the world I mean? 00:15:27.658 --> 00:15:29.517 For God who commanded the light out of darkness? 00:15:29.517 --> 00:15:30.341 We just read that. 00:15:30.341 --> 00:15:31.437 When did that happen? 00:15:31.437 --> 00:15:32.441 Genesis 1, 1. 00:15:32.441 --> 00:15:36.581 He commanded the light to shine out of darkness, right there. 00:15:36.581 --> 00:15:40.621 And that same light is in the church. 00:15:40.621 --> 00:15:44.279 That same light is there. 00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:46.914 He's commanded the light to shine out of darkness. 00:15:46.914 --> 00:15:56.289 He has shined it in our hearts to give the light of the gospel of Christ, of the knowledge, of the glory of God in the face of every believer with a mask on. 00:15:56.289 --> 00:16:00.948 I mean that's one good reason not to wear a mask right there. 00:16:00.948 --> 00:16:08.749 I mean, I listen, I want people to see my smile, I want people to see my countenance, I want people to see that there's something different about me. 00:16:08.980 --> 00:16:15.312 When I first got saved, the very first night after I got saved, I saw a guy in a meeting and I looked at him. 00:16:15.312 --> 00:16:18.908 I couldn't get my eyes off of him and finally I was room full of strangers. 00:16:18.908 --> 00:16:22.003 I didn't know but two or three people there and I asked the guy next to me. 00:16:22.003 --> 00:16:23.167 I said, who is that over there? 00:16:23.167 --> 00:16:25.886 And I said he looks like he's glowing. 00:16:25.886 --> 00:16:28.447 He looks like he's on just light bulb. 00:16:28.447 --> 00:16:30.586 Oh, that's Jim Scalise. 00:16:30.586 --> 00:16:32.527 He just got out of prison yesterday. 00:16:32.527 --> 00:16:36.730 You know, I was one of those guys before I got saved. 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:45.250 I just I wasn't very sympathetic with prisoners and people in prison and here God showed me a, an on fire believer. 00:16:45.250 --> 00:16:52.448 His whole countenance was radiating this, this very verse, and I look at this verse, I think about him because he was just glowing. 00:16:52.448 --> 00:16:55.427 I tell you we need to glow with the glory of God. 00:16:55.427 --> 00:16:58.929 It's not so much our, our, what we're saying all the time. 00:16:58.929 --> 00:17:02.730 Sometimes we just have to show up and shine, hallelujah. 00:17:02.730 --> 00:17:07.210 I'm not saying we shouldn't say something, but I'm saying we need to shine. 00:17:08.339 --> 00:17:14.702 And so this, this God of this age I want to remind you that one that that's what we're in right now. 00:17:14.702 --> 00:17:16.742 It's all that floating mass. 00:17:16.742 --> 00:17:24.069 Linguistic key to the Greek New Testament says it this way it's the God of this age is all that floating? 00:17:24.069 --> 00:17:25.184 I thought that was the devil. 00:17:25.184 --> 00:17:28.847 Well, it is the devil, but more specifically, I mean he's behind it. 00:17:28.847 --> 00:17:38.702 But more specifically, it's all that floating mass of thoughts, opinions, maximum speculations, hopes, impulses, aims, aspirations. 00:17:38.702 --> 00:17:45.750 You could put in there models, you know, you forecast estimates. 00:17:45.750 --> 00:17:46.772 You could put all that in there. 00:17:46.772 --> 00:17:47.901 You could. 00:17:47.901 --> 00:17:48.061 Also. 00:17:48.061 --> 00:17:50.951 It says aspirations and aims. 00:17:50.951 --> 00:18:01.009 You know there's there's aspirations and aims on some of the people that are putting out all this bad news and that is to steal our freedoms and turn this country into socialist, a socialist state. 00:18:01.009 --> 00:18:02.803 I don't trust them. 00:18:02.803 --> 00:18:04.903 I don't trust them. 00:18:04.903 --> 00:18:10.069 And so this God of this age, this is what we're living in right now. 00:18:10.069 --> 00:18:12.948 It's, at any time, current in the world. 00:18:12.948 --> 00:18:14.084 That's what's current right now. 00:18:14.084 --> 00:18:18.970 They have got the entire population of the world going around like a bunch of germaphobes. 00:18:18.970 --> 00:18:20.584 It's pretty amazing. 00:18:21.460 --> 00:18:25.741 And if you think this is the last time, once we get on the other side this all are going to go away. 00:18:25.741 --> 00:18:27.508 They have learned an important lesson. 00:18:27.508 --> 00:18:32.132 They know how to get this done and they're going to use it over and over again. 00:18:32.132 --> 00:18:35.963 You can, you can rest assured, they're going to use it again. 00:18:35.963 --> 00:18:37.465 I'm not saying that to scare you. 00:18:37.465 --> 00:18:39.365 I'm saying it's time for the church to shine. 00:18:39.365 --> 00:18:40.167 That's what I'm saying. 00:18:40.167 --> 00:18:41.230 Let's shine. 00:18:41.230 --> 00:18:45.880 Let's not hide in a closet, let's not hide in our little living room somewhere. 00:18:45.880 --> 00:18:50.817 I mean, it's time for the church to get out, get up, get up out of bed and let's go, let's shine. 00:18:50.817 --> 00:19:06.394 We have this treasure verse seven but we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us, and so it's time that we recognize this treasure and let it loose. 00:19:06.394 --> 00:19:07.954 Let's rise and shine. 00:19:09.230 --> 00:19:12.076 You know, I was listening to someone one time telling this little parable. 00:19:12.076 --> 00:19:14.516 It was just an illustration. 00:19:14.516 --> 00:19:16.757 It's not scriptural necessarily, although it's true. 00:19:16.757 --> 00:19:26.776 And but here's a couple of guys that are like their, their ideas, that they want to control the universe, and they're thinking about this. 00:19:26.776 --> 00:19:41.394 This person is walking down the street and it's kind of cold enough for a for a coat, and they do a wager and one of them says you know, I bet you that in five minutes I can get that person take that coat off. 00:19:41.394 --> 00:19:44.336 He said, yeah, I'll, I'll, I'll bet you. 00:19:44.336 --> 00:20:03.076 And so the guy starts blowing, starts whipping up a wind, and I mean the wind starts blowing and it blew and it blew on that person until that person just got the coat and they just wrapped it up even tighter and they snuggled down in that coat. 00:20:03.076 --> 00:20:06.893 And so, you know, the other guy said, eh, you lost. 00:20:06.893 --> 00:20:12.215 Now watch, watch an expert, watch me, I'll get it done quicker than five minutes. 00:20:12.215 --> 00:20:25.575 And so the other guy just went like this and he just began to shine and he's shine, and he's shine, and that heat started building up and, boy for you, it wouldn't even be a couple of minutes. 00:20:25.575 --> 00:20:28.516 That person took that jacket off because they were hot. 00:20:28.516 --> 00:20:30.539 Cause of all that, that sunshine started coming. 00:20:30.650 --> 00:20:32.758 I tell you, the church has got more than sunshine. 00:20:32.758 --> 00:20:37.917 We've got power, we've got glory and it's just time to shine. 00:20:37.917 --> 00:20:43.653 Sometimes we can blow and people just hang on tighter until what they, you know. 00:20:43.653 --> 00:20:51.396 They feel defensive, they don't want to hear it, they feel intimidated and sometimes it's just good to shine. 00:20:51.396 --> 00:20:54.136 Sometimes it's just good to say, oh, praise the Lord. 00:20:54.136 --> 00:20:58.153 Sometimes it's lift a hand and forget where you are and say, oh, glory to God. 00:20:58.153 --> 00:21:03.478 I mean, just shine, and it can make a huge difference. 00:21:03.478 --> 00:21:09.455 You know, gloria's Way, church has led the way and I told you about this earlier. 00:21:09.710 --> 00:21:14.494 Because of our stand, churches in Texas can be open this Sunday. 00:21:14.494 --> 00:21:15.595 I want you to think about that. 00:21:15.595 --> 00:21:17.015 Because of our stand that we took. 00:21:17.015 --> 00:21:21.199 We started taking that stand the week of Palm Sunday. 00:21:21.199 --> 00:21:23.155 I mean I heard about the lawsuit. 00:21:23.155 --> 00:21:25.017 We joined it and just look what God did. 00:21:25.017 --> 00:21:31.933 I mean he just started connecting the dots, he started putting everything together, he started giving favorite things happen Boom, boom, boom. 00:21:31.933 --> 00:21:38.316 And today I'm telling you the churches in Texas can be open for business that they choose to be. 00:21:40.550 --> 00:21:49.392 And because of our stand, number two politicians are rethinking their taking of our rights and at least the governor and the attorney general they admitted. 00:21:49.392 --> 00:21:51.357 They admitted that it was against. 00:21:51.357 --> 00:21:57.599 One of the state statutes they named was the restoration of religious freedom act of 1993. 00:21:57.599 --> 00:21:59.636 I think it's really further than that. 00:21:59.636 --> 00:22:05.017 I believe it's in the Texas state constitution, article one six. 00:22:05.017 --> 00:22:06.520 It's right there. 00:22:06.520 --> 00:22:12.836 I read it for myself Only the legislature can take our, and the Texas is a little different. 00:22:12.836 --> 00:22:13.511 It's a different. 00:22:13.511 --> 00:22:24.413 It's probably got a different constitution than a lot of states, because we were a country and then we became a state and our constitution has greater protections than just about anybody. 00:22:24.413 --> 00:22:31.374 And so thank God that they woke up and I believe we're gonna get remedy on that. 00:22:32.256 --> 00:22:39.230 And then, thirdly, because of our stand, those who are hurting will know who has the answer, and his name is Jesus. 00:22:39.230 --> 00:22:41.154 That's the answer to all of this. 00:22:41.154 --> 00:22:42.255 His name is Jesus. 00:22:42.255 --> 00:22:48.925 We have this treasure and earthen vessels, the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 00:22:48.925 --> 00:22:51.174 Amen, Praise God. 00:22:51.174 --> 00:22:52.815 Let's just pray a prayer right now. 00:22:52.815 --> 00:22:57.714 I don't know who all is listening to me, but you might be there and you might not really know Jesus. 00:22:57.714 --> 00:23:00.015 You may not have ever asked Him into your heart. 00:23:00.015 --> 00:23:01.801 You never have given Him your heart. 00:23:02.119 --> 00:23:03.055 You know, I was raised Catholic. 00:23:03.055 --> 00:23:07.521 I went through First Communion, I went through Confirmation, I went through all the sacraments. 00:23:07.521 --> 00:23:08.755 I was an altar boy. 00:23:08.755 --> 00:23:09.954 I was the nun's favorite. 00:23:09.954 --> 00:23:15.806 He all thought I was going to the seminary, I mean all those things, but I wasn't saved. 00:23:15.806 --> 00:23:18.861 But I got saved. 00:23:18.861 --> 00:23:21.064 You know, jesus caught up with me. 00:23:21.064 --> 00:23:22.469 I was lost. 00:23:22.469 --> 00:23:23.212 He wasn't lost. 00:23:23.212 --> 00:23:24.778 I didn't find Him, he found me. 00:23:25.777 --> 00:23:29.095 And I'm telling you you can change your life right now. 00:23:29.095 --> 00:23:34.285 Just say this little prayer, say, oh God, I know, without Jesus I'm lost. 00:23:34.285 --> 00:23:36.743 Without Jesus I die and go to hell. 00:23:36.743 --> 00:23:39.780 But oh God, I want to be saved. 00:23:39.780 --> 00:23:41.546 I want to go to heaven. 00:23:41.546 --> 00:23:46.145 Jesus, I believe you're the Son of God. 00:23:46.145 --> 00:23:49.182 I believe you died for my sins. 00:23:49.182 --> 00:23:51.702 But God raised you from the dead. 00:23:51.702 --> 00:23:56.414 Come into my heart and change me now. 00:23:56.414 --> 00:24:00.388 Make me the kind of person you want me to be. 00:24:00.388 --> 00:24:05.390 I give you my life and I make you my Lord. 00:24:05.390 --> 00:24:15.749 Jesus, I turn away from sin, I turn away from my old life, I turn away from the devil and I embrace you fully. 00:24:15.749 --> 00:24:21.134 Thank you, jesus is my Lord now and I'm saved. 00:24:21.134 --> 00:24:23.694 Now, if you prayed that prayer, let us know. 00:24:23.694 --> 00:24:28.694 Either email us at staff at GWCCC or mail us material. 00:24:28.694 --> 00:24:34.531 Maybe call you if you want us to Give us your phone number, or you can text or you can message us on Facebook. 00:24:34.531 --> 00:24:39.453 At least tell someone that you made Jesus the Lord of your life. 00:24:39.453 --> 00:24:40.185 Praise God. 00:24:40.756 --> 00:24:42.255 We've got one request from Gwen. 00:24:42.255 --> 00:24:45.314 Pray for the oil and gas industry, amen. 00:24:45.314 --> 00:24:50.294 I tell you it's been sad to see oil and gas doing. 00:24:50.294 --> 00:24:52.674 What it's doing right now is historic. 00:24:52.674 --> 00:25:08.115 My dad was in oil and gas for years and I still remember the price of a barrel of oil and my dad used to have wells and all of that and it was very stable off from the 40s, 50s and 60s. 00:25:08.115 --> 00:25:09.022 It didn't very much. 00:25:09.022 --> 00:25:10.934 It was around $3 a barrel. 00:25:10.934 --> 00:25:14.875 And this week futures they had to pay people. 00:25:14.875 --> 00:25:24.190 In other words, if you were trying to you know, to buy oil in the future, the people with the oil would pay you to take it. 00:25:24.190 --> 00:25:28.075 There's no storage left and it did recover a little bit. 00:25:28.075 --> 00:25:33.694 I didn't keep up today how much it was, but we've got to have a turnaround in the oil business. 00:25:33.815 --> 00:26:07.002 Father, we pray for all of our people that are connected with oil and gas, and Lord, it touches more than just their industry, but all of the related industries, the machinists, the engineers, the engineers, the industries, the machinists and welders and all of the different associated industries that are associated with drilling and oil and, lord, we just rebuke the devil, we bind the devil that's attacked our economy in Houston and attacked our economy in Texas, and we say, father, we speak a turnaround. 00:26:07.002 --> 00:26:14.945 In the name of Jesus, angels, just cause it to happen, cause it confidence to start building in the market again. 00:26:14.945 --> 00:26:24.045 Panic and fear have had a place in the market and we rebuke the trouble that Iran and Russia are. 00:26:24.045 --> 00:26:30.776 Lord, both of them are really, I should say, saudi Arabia, lord. 00:26:30.776 --> 00:26:41.942 Technically they're supposed to be allies, but I've never considered that they're more enemies than our allies and because of their flooding the market with oil, they've pressured the oil downward. 00:26:42.335 --> 00:26:58.201 Father, we just thank you that you saw that, in the name of Jesus, we speak over it right now and, lord, we know that this is temporary and we thank you for having mercy on all of those that are connected with the oil industry, especially those in our church. 00:26:58.201 --> 00:27:01.780 In Jesus' name, amen, amen. 00:27:01.780 --> 00:27:06.583 I'll tell you, as bad things got quickly, that's how good they can be. 00:27:06.583 --> 00:27:08.220 That's how quick the turnaround can be. 00:27:08.220 --> 00:27:10.767 So let's keep believing that, amen.