REWIND
The podcast "REWIND" features a collection of past sermons from Organic Church. Each episode takes listeners on a journey through the teachings and messages delivered during previous worship services. The content is a retrospective look at the spiritual guidance and insights shared by Pastor Michael and visiting guests!
Listeners can expect to revisit powerful sermons, meaningful scriptures, and impactful messages that have been shared in the past. The podcast aims to provide a convenient and accessible way for the church community and new audiences to engage with the timeless wisdom and spiritual teachings presented during earlier sermons.
Whether it's a reflection on a particular theme, a series of teachings, or a selection of sermons covering various topics, "REWIND" offers an opportunity for individuals to deepen their understanding of the faith and find inspiration in the timeless messages.
The podcast may also include commentary or reflections on the historical context of each sermon and how it continues to resonate with the present-day congregation.
REWIND
Listen to the Silence (April 6, 2025)
The deafening silence of God can be one of the most challenging aspects of faith. When prayers seem to hit the ceiling and heaven appears shut, what are we to make of these quiet seasons? Drawing from the profound 400-year silence between the Old and New Testaments, this episode uncovers the hidden purpose behind God's periods of apparent absence.
Throughout scripture, even the most faithful servants experienced divine silence. From the Psalmist's cry of "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" to Job's lament "I cry to you, O God, but you don't answer," these moments aren't signs of God's inactivity but rather His behind-the-scenes work. Just as those 400 silent years were actually preparing the world for its greatest miracle—the birth of Jesus—our seasons of waiting serve divine purposes we often can't yet see.
Before assuming God has gone quiet because He's distant or uncaring, we're challenged to first examine our own hearts. Isaiah reminds us that sometimes "it's your sins that have cut you off from God." The path back to hearing His voice begins with honest self-reflection and making space for His presence by removing the distractions that crowd our spiritual senses.
This powerful exploration of divine silence offers a refreshing perspective for anyone navigating a desert season in their spiritual journey. By understanding that God often works most powerfully in quiet moments, we can embrace these periods not as punishment but as preparation for what lies ahead. Have you experienced a season of God's silence? What did you learn during that time that you couldn't have discovered any other way?
seated. We'll let the kids class go. Holly, I'm going to put you on the spot. I got a microphone prepared for you. I'm going to need you to come up here and join me for a few minutes. I didn't prep you for any of this, it just happened, okay. Yeah, go ahead and sit, make yourself comfortable.
Speaker 1:Has nothing to do with today's message, but it's something that while I was standing praying, worshiping, two things happened to my wife and I yesterday while we were in Medina and I want to share those with you. But I also we're going to talk prophetic. You good with that. I think you can live in that. Right, that's your wheelhouse, okay? So yesterday, when we were praying for the members of our teams in our areas, pastor Susan Bosch, who is my area supervisor, she prayed over my wife and I that we were going to make crooked paths straight, just as I said this morning. And when she said it I chuckled because I was like I know exactly what she's talking about, like I've seen all of the things, I've heard all of the things. I get it. Okay, I'm here for it. Lord, here I am. I've heard all of the things. I get it. Okay, I'm here for it. Lord, here I am. Use me. Right, amen. So that prophetic word was based in the word of God, right? So that's a good word, and I know that God's word will not return, void, amen.
Speaker 1:So then later there was a couple who's actually being installed today. Let's just stop and pray for them, father. I pray for the Worcester Foursquare Church in the mighty name of Jesus. Lord, this new pastor couple that's going to be installed this morning. Lord, I pray that you just give them strong leadership, strong guidance, father, god, because it's never easy walking into a building that's already been established. Lord, I thank you for your favor in their lives, for your favor in that building. Lord, just continue to lead them, guide them and direct them, give them an understanding that they've never had before in their lives. Lord, and I thank you for that in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
Speaker 1:And that pastor couple they were sitting in front of us. We didn't really get to talk to them a whole lot and they started introducing people who were being installed in the upcoming weeks, months, people who had been freshly installed. And when they said the Worcester Forest Church I drive by it pretty regularly because it's not too far from my work and, honestly, it's the closest place to go to get anything of substance. So I leaned up to him and I put my arm on his shoulder and I said, hey, we've got a lot to talk about. Like I'm pretty close to you. And he's like, oh my gosh, yes, please.
Speaker 1:So we sat there for a while, we did all these other things, and all of a sudden he turns around and he says can I pray for you? Certainly. So he comes and he grabs my wife and I and he starts to pray for us and he says that we are going to get favor that we have never had before. So he starts saying these things he has no idea the stuff that we are seeing, the stuff that we are living, the stuff that we are doing. He doesn't know about the crooked way straight. He doesn't know about any of this and he just keeps talking. And he just keeps talking. And I say, god, whatever it is that you're doing right now, you need to do it quick Cause, like I don't like to be emotional, like it's not who I am, and so it's just not, and so he's, he's really doing work in that moment and I'm like, okay, you know, I hear you, god, all right, you're doing something big today.
Speaker 1:But I sat through a lot of that meeting and I'm going to be honest with you guys cynical, right, because aren't we all that way? Sometimes we meet people we don't necessarily trust and we become cynical, right, okay? So I want to just ask you a question Are there times when prophecy is given that is not good prophecy? Okay, can you tell me about it? He's fixing it. Go ahead and talk. Oh wait, we've got to turn it on, not yours, not yours. Back there, back there. I chose not to use your other microphone because it cuts out. Yeah, there you go. Yes, okay, that's what I wanted to know.
Speaker 1:So, as I was experiencing that yesterday, my heart was like, okay, god is all over this and I knew that he was. But then I started thinking back to some of the other times when I've allowed people to speak into my life and I realized that I was getting myself psyched up for something that maybe God wasn't actually saying, for that exact reason that they had intel or information where I had shared something and they were trying to give me peace that wasn't really the peace of God. So I wanted to share, and I have never witnessed you do this, so I want to be very clear about that while we're sitting here. I want to be very clear that when you are being spoken over, when the prophetic is happening in your life, it had better not contradict the word of God, because that's when it gets dangerous, and I'm going to tell you it happens, okay. So be prepared, prepare your heart, and I don't know why I'm sharing this with you in this moment, but God said to me today that I had to, and so I am. But, marcus, I also know this and I promise you this isn't from anything that I know you need to make a change in your life, and it's an easy change.
Speaker 1:Before you leave work every morning, before you leave the house for work every morning, you need to pray over your wife. I don't know why, but you need to, okay, every morning I don't mean every other morning, I don't mean once in a while or when I think about it Every morning, before you walk out that door, you need to pray over your wife. If she's asleep, that's okay. Pray over her. If she's awake, great, hold her hands and pray with her. But you need to pray with your wife every morning. That's all I've got. Share all you want Amen, and that means that they have to be able to operate in the prophetic, the apostolic, like they can't just be in the prophetic all the time. Okay, okay, yes, yes, amen, thank you, thank you, thank you. It's all sweaty now. I made her nervous. So I'm blessed because I have Pastor Holly, pastor Roger, I have a team around me that I can ask those questions and we can have those conversations. Sometimes they're hard, sometimes they're uncomfortable, but we can have those conversations. It has nothing to do with my message today. Okay, there you go, write your notes, keep that up here. Someday that's going to be information for somebody sitting in this room. Amen, thank you, jesus.
Speaker 1:All right, I need to rewind everybody for a quick second to a movie that I really like. You know how I always start my messages with something weird. You guys are like super serious right now. So we got to change gears. Okay, all right, everybody needs to shift gears real quick because we're going to go. We're going to go hard. All right, I only got 20 minutes. We got to do this.
Speaker 1:There's a movie that most of you are going to remember that had a little something to do with time travel. Anybody know what movie I'm talking about. Back to the good. You guys are quick. You guys are quick, all right.
Speaker 1:That movie was set in 1985, and Doc and Marty end up going back to 1995. That movie brought a ton of attention to the DeLorean, right? How many of you have ever wanted to own a DeLorean? Strictly because they are ugly, but strictly because of that movie? Right, there was something about it that made it cool. That car ain't cool, like it's not cool, but there was something about that movie that made it cool, right? Okay, if some of you were eagle-eyed, you may have noticed subtle changes between the time that they were in in between the time travels, like the Twin Pines Mall becoming the Lone Pines Mall after Marty hit the one pine tree. Anybody ever caught that Little subtle things, all right. And then the fact that the real Huey Lewis tells Marty that his music is just too darn loud, right, so there's some humor in that movie.
Speaker 1:But that movie portrayed something that many of us miss, and it's the importance of what brings together those two times, right? So from 1985 back to 1955, they go back. They don't really know what's happened in between those times. Now, doc lived through those times, but he's about to mess it all up, right, Okay, so I want to talk today about time travel, all right, okay, all right, not quite like that, all right, so bear with me for just a second.
Speaker 1:Okay, it's a fun topic of discussion, because many of us believe that it's not real and many of us believe that it's very real. Right, elvis is still alive because he's just traveled into time. Right, he's going to come back. No, okay, All right, I've lost you guys for a second.
Speaker 1:Okay, I want you to open your Bibles, if you would please, to Psalm, chapter 22. And we're going to be in verse 1 and 2. It's Psalm 22. It'll take you a minute to get today's topic. Some of you already know, but it'll take you a minute to get there.
Speaker 1:But Psalm 22, verse 1 and 2, it says my God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help? Every day, I call to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every night, I lift my voice, but I find no relief. That is the psalm that Jesus quoted when he was hanging on the cross my God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why have you forsaken me? All right, we're going to jump to Job, chapter 30, verse 20. We got a speed run now, is that right? Job 30, 20. It says I cry to you, o God, but you don't answer. I stand before you, but you don't even look. I cry to you, o God, but you don't answer. I stand before you, but you don't even look.
Speaker 1:Lamentations 3.8,. It says and though I cry and shout, he has shut out my prayers. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. What do all three of those passages of scripture have in common? The silence of God, the silence. How many of you are living in the silence of God right now? Lord, I am praying that you speak to me today, lord, I am praying that you give me understanding for what you are doing. Lord, I just need you to be here with me and nothing happens and nothing changes. God, in his infinite wisdom, knows when to remain silent. Now we're going to time travel. Ready, this group? We're going to time travel together. Okay, all right, open your Bible to Malachi. We're going to go to chapter 4, verse five. Malachi 4.5.
Speaker 1:Hey, something was said to me yesterday and I want to encourage you guys to do this Start taking your Bibles with you when you go places. Okay, I don't mean your phone, I mean your Bible. If you don't have a Bible and you need a hard copy, let me know I'll get you one, but start taking your Bible with you. Why, man, I was going to say do you know how easy it is to crack this bad boy open when I'm struggling with something? Do you know, if I? What's the first thing I do when I grab my phone? I'm going to open my Bible app on my phone and go look for a passage of scripture. What's the first thing I do? Facebook, facebook, start playing a game, check my email and I get distracted from what really matters.
Speaker 1:Amen, start carrying your Bible with you, something physical, something tangible, something you can see, hold and know. Right there, ain't no Facebook in here. Ain't no Facebook in there. All right, are we in Malachi? Are we all there? Okay, chapter four, verse five. It says look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah. Before the great and dreadful day of, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives, his preaching will turn the hearts of their fathers to their children and the hearts of their children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse. That's a pointless passage of scripture for the message that I'm preaching today, ain't it? Everybody, hold your Bible or your phone, whatever. Flip the page. Flip the page. You've just traveled 400 years. 400 years, it's true.
Speaker 1:There is a 400 year gap that is not reported in the Bible from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Why it is 400 years of nothing. God is silent for 400 years, is silent for 400 years. Can you imagine, day in and day out, walking with the Lord hand in hand, hearing his voice and knowing what he wants in your life, and then nothing for 400? Now remember, these people lived a lot longer too, right? These people lived a lot longer than we live. No-transcript Nothing. Now I notice that not a lot of people raised their hand when they said they aren't living in a time of silence.
Speaker 1:I want to tell you something Many of us are living in a time of silence. We don't like to admit the time of silence because we feel like we're inadequate if God is not speaking to us. Right? If God's not talking to me, I must be doing something. I'm not good enough. Never mistake God's silence for inactivity.
Speaker 1:400 years of nothing, and what's the story of Matthew? What's the book of Matthew, the synoptic life of Jesus Christ 400 years in the making, and the Messiah is born 400 years, and you can't go two days. 400 years and you can't go a week. I think we need to figure out why God is not speaking. Are we praying every day, not for our will, but his will?
Speaker 1:Listen, I want a lot of things in life. I want God to be good to me, but more than that, I want to be good to God. I want to hear what it is that he would have me do, and I want to do it with perfection, with excellence. That spirit of excellence is something that lives inside of me, and every one of you who know me intimately, who know me closely, you know that about me, right? I don't like for things to not be done the right way, and so sometimes I see you doing something. I'm going to say just let me do that myself right Now. Listen, that is not because I don't trust you, it is not because I don't like you, it's not because I hate you. It is because I know that God has called me to excellence, and if I allow you to operate outside of excellence and just say it's okay, what good am I to my father? What good am I to God if I am not willing to operate in excellence?
Speaker 1:Can I tell you something? You can't understand excellence unless it's demonstrated for you, right? What is excellence? Nobody knows what excellence truly is. I'll tell you, I try to live my life more like Jesus every day. That's the best that I can do. It is the best that I can do. But I'm going to tell you that excellence sometimes comes at a cost. Holly laughs, she gets it, she's been there. Sometimes excellence comes at being disliked. Sometimes excellence comes at the cost of uncomfortable conversations. Sometimes excellence comes and you got nothing left when you're done, because everybody that sees you doing it, they have an opinion about why you're operating that way.
Speaker 1:I'm telling you, I'm not trying to be better than anybody. I am trying to bring the movement of Christ, the body of Christ, into excellence. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus. Thank you, jesus. Listen, weak leaders breed weak followers. I am not going to grow weak disciples because your feelings get hurt when I operate in a spirit of excellence.
Speaker 1:Let me tell you something God does not want weak disciples. He wants strong disciples, disciples that can look at the word and go oh yeah, I can speak to that. Right, listen, if we can't memorize scripture? Hey, I'm not gonna beat you up for it, but what's etched upon your heart if it's not the word of God? What is etched upon your heart? The world is etched upon your heart, amen. And so what happens is you have the world etched upon your heart and you're walking around trying to figure out why God's being silent.
Speaker 1:Let me tell you God's being silent because you can't live in relationship with him. God is being silent because you can't live in relationship with him. Listen, I haven't figured it out, I haven't made it to heaven yet, but I'm going to tell you this every time. Listen, we got to stop acting like savages, right? Am I being truthful? Listen, when we do, when somebody does something we don't like, we want to attack them. Right? We want to make them look bad, feel bad, seem like a terrible person. Let me tell you that is not what a disciple does. That is not what a disciple does.
Speaker 1:A disciple comes alongside of you lovingly. Listen, I might need to love you at an arm's length for a minute, because what has happened has hurt my feelings, it's wounded my flesh and I need time for my spirit to heal. And then, when it does, I'm gonna come alongside you in love. I don't need to condemn you for what it is that you've done or you've said, and I don't need to condemn you for the actions that you've taken. All I need you to do is know that I am not angry at you, because God is not angry at me, and I don't want to hold on to something that God won't hold on to of mine. If he has forgiven me, the least that I can do is forgive you. The least that I can do is forgive you.
Speaker 1:Listen, there are so many other things. Listen, you guys ain't even getting excited. That's okay. I'm excited for myself right now. Like, listen, I know what Jesus is doing right now. It might not be in you, but it's in me and if I walk out of here changed and different, I'm happy, right? I'm excited that I didn't come in here looking all raggedy and beat up and then I'm going to walk out of here looking all raggedy and beat up. I'm going to walk out of here looking raggedy and beat up because God's done something. Come and mess me up. Come and mess me up, god, I want you to walk into this place today and I want you to just tear me down to the ground and build me back up. I'll walk out of here all sweaty and stinky and I think you know what, god. You did something today. Thank you Jesus. Thank you, jesus. Okay, lord, have mercy. You guys might think that I'm a little bit crazy.
Speaker 1:I know it's hard to believe, but understanding that 400 years between the Old Testament and the New Testament is important to our faith. It's not just a gap that goes unaccounted. It is God working in ways that we don't even understand 400 years, generations of family members to get to Mary. 400 years of generations to get to Joseph, all so that we might have Jesus. 400 years, god worked so that we might be saved. And you can't wait two hours to have lunch, right, see? The problem is is we have become so selfish that we aren't worried about what God is doing in our lives. We want this expedited. I'm the same way. Hurry up, lord. If you're going to mess me up, do it now, because I don't want you to do it in front of people. Right, lord? If you're going to shake me up, do it now, because I don't want you to do it in front of people. Right, lord? If you're going to shake me up, shake me up right now so that nobody else is going to see it. It don't work that way. He gets you when you least expect it in the place that you don't want to be.
Speaker 1:Any of you who ever encountered Florence in a grocery store, listen, wonderful woman loved her to death. But if you told her that you were going through something in the middle of Walmart, you are getting prayed for in the middle of Walmart. She ain't going to tell you. Tyler says been there, wendy's drive-thru, right, she wasn't going to wait until Wednesday night at church. She wasn't going to wait until Sunday morning at church. She was going to lay hands on you and pray for you right there. If she puts you out in the spirit in the middle of Walmart, sorry about it. It just it was who she was. But she believed that praying for people first was the first line of line of combat at all times. Right, amen. And she wasn't afraid to walk in what God had called her to walk in. She wasn't going to wait for you to decide. She was going to let God make that decision.
Speaker 1:Listen, sometimes his silence is telling you something. We talk about waiting all the time. Right, you can be in waiting and still hear from God, but wait until you have that season of waiting and silence. Sometimes you just have to sit on the floor and talk to him. Lord, I don't know where you are, I don't know what it is that you're doing, but I know that you are doing something good. I know that you are changing my life in ways that I can't even see, that I can't even feel. Lord, I know that you are going to wreck me from the inside out and I am thankful for your silence today. Lord, can you sit in silence with him? Has anybody ever tried that? To just sit in silence with the Lord? It's hard, isn't it? Because you think you've been there a half hour. It's really been three minutes, like you. Just nothing. Just there's this void and you're waiting for something and nothing happens, and it is hard to live in that. But I'm gonna tell you, there is honor in that waiting, there is honor in that silence.
Speaker 1:Now, most of us who have been around small children or have small children, we know something about silence, right, it usually equals trouble. There's peanut butter spread on the wall, or they're running around without clothes on, or they've put crayons in the dryer. Right, listen, my kids, get quiet. Why'd you raise your hand? Did you put crayons in the dryer? Right, listen, my kids get quiet. Why'd you raise your hand? Did you put crayons in the dryer? Yeah, silence is bad, you know. When it gets quiet, something's going down right. But as parents sometimes we just need that 10 minutes and I'll deal with it after the fact. Right, my kids get quiet in the basement for any given time and I'm like you know what. I'll deal with it after the fact. Right, my kids get quiet in the basement for any given time and I'm like you know what. I'll deal with it later. I'm just going to take the quiet for now.
Speaker 1:But we have conditioned ourselves to believe that silence means something bad is happening. That is not what God is doing. If you believe that, I have to ask do you really know who God is? Because he's not doing anything bad. The enemy has allowed you to believe that God will only do good things when he's loud and when he's silent. The good always comes from the Father. Okay, don't mistake in God's silence for inaction. Don't mistake in God's silence for inaction. Don't mistake in God's silence for hate or anger. Look at that silence as an opportunity.
Speaker 1:Isaiah 59.2. Isaiah 59.2,. It says it's your sin that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins. He has turned away and will not listen anymore. Quiet in here, quiet in here. You know why it's quiet in here? Because remember when I was talking about that intentional separation from the will of God, remember that it's your sin that has cut you off from God. Because of your sins. He has turned away and will not listen anymore.
Speaker 1:1 Samuel 28.6. He asked the Lord what he should do, but the Lord refused to answer him, either by dreams or by sacred lots or by prophets. After a long pattern of disobedience, king Saul is experiencing silence from God. He's no longer leading him, but this is after a long period of disobedience. See, we want to blame God for the silence. But this is after a long period of disobedience. See, we want to blame God for the silence. We don't want to look inward when I'm not hearing something, when I'm not experiencing a move of God.
Speaker 1:The first question that I ask him is Lord, what is it that I need to prune? Explore my heart, god, and whatever it is, I need you to take it away. This morning, before I came to the pulpit, I was standing in the aisle and I was praying that he would soften my heart. Because you guys don't understand. I run through the ringer week after week after week after week, and sometimes I just get calloused. I stop caring. I'm like you know what I wish you would. Whatever it is that you said I wish you would, you know why? Because I like to fight too right. I don't want to be that. I don't want my heart to be that way, lord, I need you to soften me so that I can show you, so that I can experience the love that you have for the people, not just for me, but for you. If I come into this pulpit with a hard heart, guess what You're going to get? A hard hearted message. That is not my intention ever. I want God to be able to work freely through me, Amen. I want God to be able to work freely through me. Amen.
Speaker 1:And listen, that silence happens to me. My first line of defense is to figure out is it something that I have done, lord? Is it something that I have done to offend you? Is it something that I have done to stop your move in my life? And if it is, lord, take it from me. It is better to gouge out your eye than to lose the whole head. Listen, there ain't a whole lot going on up here anyway, but I'd rather lose the eye, right? I know that God wants listen.
Speaker 1:I don't know who I'm talking to, but God wants you to do something today that makes a change in your life. Because you're sitting there going. I'm not hearing what God's saying to me today. I don't know what it is. God wants you to explore your heart. He wants you to come to him in submission Not easy to do. Don't argue with him when he tells you, when he says it's time to give up, it's time to stop, it's time to do X. You need to do it and you need to do it fast. This isn't a game.
Speaker 1:Listen, if Jesus returns tomorrow, lord please do, I don't want to go to work tomorrow. I'm kidding, kidding. If Jesus were tomorrow, lord please do, I don't want to go to work tomorrow. I'm kidding, kidding. If Jesus were to return tomorrow, how many of us are going to make it Right? Why? Because what else can we ask him to do but help us? Because we can't help but act like savages. We can't help but hate and to talk poorly and to try to treat people a certain way.
Speaker 1:Listen, disciples, don't do that. We have got to shift our mindset from world to spirit. We have got to stop thinking about all of the things that the world is trying to tell us to do and make us act. Listen, you ain't gonna win. Is trying to tell us to do and make us act. Listen, you ain't going to win. The world doesn't win. No-transcript. Jesus is going to have victory. We already know that. Why are you living in the world? All right, I'm done yelling. Can you lay down your sword and pick up his praise? Can you stop being malicious and learn to be kind? Can you learn to forgive one another? Can you learn to let go of the burdens that you are carrying? If there's one of us in this room not carrying a burden today, I would be surprised. I would be surprised. A silent God is not an inactive. God.
Speaker 1:A silent God is a loving God. A silent God is a patient God, and we need to learn to be more loving, more patient and sometimes silent, because when we're acting like savages and not like disciples, didn't you learn anything from Bambi? If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all. Right. Can we not learn that Like this feels like it's grade school level stuff, but we can't seem to do it. We can't seem to do it because we have allowed the world to tell us that we don't have to. Before Jesus walked the earth, god was on the throne. When Jesus walked the earth, god was on the throne. When Jesus ascended to heaven, god was on the throne. When Jesus walked the earth, god was on the throne. When Jesus ascended to heaven, god was on the throne. When the Holy Spirit came upon us, god was on the throne. Guess who's on the throne today, god? Guess who's going to be on the throne tomorrow? Guess who's going to be on the throne when Jesus returns, god, can I tell you something? The world doesn't win. We are not going to have victory living in the flesh. Amen.
Speaker 1:Stop and listen to the silence. When God stops speaking, ask is it something that I have done, lord. Examine my heart. For some of us, it's Lord. Look through our Facebook page. For some of us, it's Lord. Look through our text messages, lord. Look through our Instagram, lord. Look through our browsing history, whatever it may be, but we need him to reveal the things that are not of his glory, amen. And if we pretend like we don't have problems and we don't ever look for that, when the silence comes, we won't know how to combat it. Amen, let's pray together.
Speaker 1:Father, as I stand here today, I thank you for an anointed word. Lord. I stand here embracing whatever silence you bring to my life Because, lord, that silence is an opportunity to meet you where you want me. Lord, I know that you're going to come to me, you're going to drag me whatever place you want me to be, but, lord, I want to go willingly. I want to go with an understanding of what it is that you would have me do and, lord, I will examine my own heart today.
Speaker 1:Lord, if there is something that's in here that is not fruitful to your ministry, reveal it to me and allow me to remove it. Lord, I lay it all down at the foot of the cross today the burden, the worry, the hurt, lord, all of the things I lay it at your feet the burden, the worry, the hurt. Lord, all of the things I lay it at your feet. Father, I thank you for leading your people, for lifting us up, for blessing us daily. Lord, I pray that, as we leave this place, that your glory will show through each and every one of us. Allow us to pray first, allow us to ask all of the questions, father God, just to be in harmony with you. Lord, I thank you, I praise you, give you all the honor and glory in the mighty name of Jesus, and the church says amen. We love you, guys. We will see you Wednesday night at the Lenten service. Oh, I'm sorry, we were going to go home, okay.
Speaker 1:Now we really got a speed run. I forgot. Pastor Roger, you want to come help me? Okay, my apologies, guys, sorry, sorry, yeah, all right. Well, do like we normally do. What I want to say is that, as we go to take communion, please just examine your heart. Make sure you're in good standing with God. It is important to me that you understand that it is worse for you to take communion in bad standing with Christ than it is for you to simply sit. I promise you, if you don't move forward and you don't take communion, no one's going to judge you. Nobody in this building is going to judge you. So I want you to just understand the importance. But let's just stand, come and collect our elements and then no-transcript.
Speaker 1:Father, as we stand here today prepared to take your communion, I just thank you for the blood that you shed on the cross, Father, that you would do something so significant to give us everlasting life. Father, whosoever should call upon your name shall be saved. Today I am a whosoever, Father. I am calling upon the mighty name of Jesus.