SPEAKER_00: Uh you know, I'm currently the Lord is using me in Mexico right now.
SPEAKER_00: He used me here for roughly two and a half plus years, close to three.
SPEAKER_00: And uh we did it the Lord did an amazing job during that time.
SPEAKER_00: And and uh it's something where like they asked me, like, hey, why you gotta go back to Baltimore for a month?
SPEAKER_00: I said, because I gotta go say hi to my family.
SPEAKER_00: I gotta go report, you know.
SPEAKER_00: So it wasn't just a pass by, it was something that it's mandatory for me, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like it's mandatory to go to California.
SPEAKER_00: I'm originally from born and raised California, but uh um, so it's mandatory to go see my kids for a month, but it's also mandatory to come over here and say hello, right?
SPEAKER_00: And pass by in in different relationships that I still carry on, and it wasn't just something that we were just passing by and uh the end, you know, dun dun, end of story.
SPEAKER_00: No, it's something that we still come back and I get encouraged and just to say hello to each and every one of you.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: So I um this is gonna be an update, right?
SPEAKER_00: Um it's something that um we've been out there for a year and a half, roughly a year and a half.
SPEAKER_00: Uh out there in in Mexico, he he uh the Lord's got us in Tomatlán Jalisco.
SPEAKER_00: The the name of the church there is Camino Viviente.
SPEAKER_00: It's in English, it's living way, right?
SPEAKER_00: So um, of course, the Lord has us using us there.
SPEAKER_00: Uh uh I like to use the word doulos as we know that word is a Greek word, it's bondservant.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: I'm a bondservant for the Lord, I'm a soldier for Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: And I like that word sheepdog.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of people are like, hey, well, how come you never call yourself pastor?
SPEAKER_00: I said, because I don't like that.
SPEAKER_00: That's just me.
SPEAKER_00: All right, there's only one pastor, his name's Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: If anything, I'm the sheepdog to the pastor.
SPEAKER_00: And if you've done a story of the actual pastor, then you utilizes those sheep dogs to help him out with the sheep, right?
SPEAKER_00: So that's what we're doing for the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And I think I gotta trim this one here, right?
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: So we've uh done leadership classes out there.
SPEAKER_00: Um, as you can see, this is we there's not a church building, it's just an overhang, some pillars, a slab of cement, and you put 40 to 50 chairs there, and that's that's where the church meets.
SPEAKER_00: But we know that the building's not the church, we're the church, right?
SPEAKER_00: So we're there.
SPEAKER_00: Uh we started leadership classes, so our focus is to raise up the existing members there uh for direction, vision, clarity, and as the Bible says, that we all have been given a gift, right?
SPEAKER_00: So in this particular uh activity, uh everyone got a uh a something, and but they didn't know what was the vision, but that that that particular class was um the the um the focus was how to communicate a vision.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: So as we see the vision was to create this this uh what looks like a cake make out of pampers, and of course, you know, the women, the sister did their touch, right?
SPEAKER_00: And we blessed a sister that had a little baby.
SPEAKER_00: So that was the focus, kind of giving them delegating the stuff.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, this is uh sister Norma.
SPEAKER_00: We did two of them, and we blessed her, and then another sister who wasn't there, but that's the focus.
SPEAKER_00: Right now, what we've established is that every class comes with an activity, a game of some sort that's connected with the message.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Um they've been adapted to that.
SPEAKER_00: It almost seems like they they they they like that.
SPEAKER_00: It's it's better for them, it's better for me too, you know.
SPEAKER_00: I'm I I understand it a little bit better.
SPEAKER_00: So there we are doing the uh the lecture.
SPEAKER_00: We also um um church in Cockysville um called me up, uh Maryland, asked me, hey brother, what do you need over there?
SPEAKER_00: I said, I need I need weapons, I need weapons over here, man.
SPEAKER_00: You know, so they blessed me with some Bibles, and uh so you know that's a blessing from them, and we uh armed uh our women's discipleship home over there, and uh so they got blessed with some some new weapons.
SPEAKER_00: So praise the Lord for that.
SPEAKER_00: Uh also that the Lord has given us the skill to cut hair, so we're there blessing them.
SPEAKER_00: We got the barbershop ministry, and that's something that's essential anywhere you go.
SPEAKER_00: That's universal.
SPEAKER_00: All right, and so we got them for 15 to 20 to 30 minutes, and uh, so they're gonna get Jesus in the prayer and a haircut.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So the first thing when we got there, it's like, hey man, we need to uh start off with a big shebang, right?
SPEAKER_00: So we started an event.
SPEAKER_00: I met my family in Mexico.
SPEAKER_00: Mind you, uh, my family, uh my dad and my mom are Mexicans, but I've never been over there.
SPEAKER_00: I was born and raised in California.
SPEAKER_00: So I met my family for the first time that are six hours away, and they happen to be involved with the church.
SPEAKER_00: They have ministry there.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, this is Jeanette and her husband, and they dress up like clowns and they, you know, present the ministry to the kids, right?
SPEAKER_00: And they said, we also got a Christian rap group.
SPEAKER_00: And I said, Well, let's hook up, man.
SPEAKER_00: You know, let's make it happen, Captain.
SPEAKER_00: So we hooked up, they came on down, and we had an event in the center of town, right?
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's like I said, this is just to give you an overview.
SPEAKER_00: It was too many clips, too many uh slides to put in.
SPEAKER_00: But, you know, we did worship, uh, we we we uh brought the gospel and just kind of pictures.
SPEAKER_00: After the event, we put tables and we put uh clothes and food and we gave out, right?
SPEAKER_00: Something that's essential because to them it's always the church wants, wants, wants, but our focus is give, give, give.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: So we want to change that philosophy.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not saying it's every church, all I'm saying is that that's what their mindset is.
SPEAKER_00: So we're also involved with youth ministry.
SPEAKER_00: We have the youth there.
SPEAKER_00: Um, for me, the focus is I mean, when you think of Mexico, you think of cartel.
SPEAKER_00: I do, I don't know if you guys do, but you always think of the bad things that happen.
SPEAKER_00: So the thing is, how can we get to the cartel?
SPEAKER_00: Right here.
SPEAKER_00: We attack the youth, we plant that seed on them, we direct them, give them hope.
SPEAKER_00: Something different, right?
SPEAKER_00: So this here is Saturdays, and we start off everything with the game.
SPEAKER_00: This particular game, you get told, uh, you get a candy.
SPEAKER_00: There's some have candy, some have money, and some have or two of them had eggs.
SPEAKER_00: So if you got the egg, you gotta smash it in your head.
SPEAKER_00: You want to gamble, right?
SPEAKER_00: We gamble with our lives every day, right?
SPEAKER_00: So we see Leo found the first first egg, he smashed it in his head.
SPEAKER_00: You know, he's got to do it in front of everybody.
SPEAKER_00: You know?
SPEAKER_00: And you got Andrea right here.
SPEAKER_00: Andrea used to be a prostitute, used to.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: And I always show her that picture and I say, hey, look at that face right there, man.
SPEAKER_00: I'm pretty sure you didn't have that face when you were in the in that filth over there.
SPEAKER_00: Remember that moment in time, that joy, that fruit of the spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So we see Lupita, she found the next gay, and bada bing, bada boom.
SPEAKER_00: She smashed it in her head, but you see here, what do you see all right there?
SPEAKER_00: That's what's that's what gets me on fire.
SPEAKER_00: The smiles.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: They're happy.
SPEAKER_00: So that's something that's very essential for me and us, right?
SPEAKER_00: We've started an ESL clash, English as a second language.
SPEAKER_00: One thing I told them, I'm no teacher at all.
SPEAKER_00: I got my G D in the joint in prison.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: But I do know my ABCs.
SPEAKER_00: So let's start off with that.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: So we're starting off different small phrases, what is, you know, from the alphabet, nouns, and just different small stuff that I that I kind of remember.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: But it's awesome, they're growing.
SPEAKER_00: You know, something that the Lord can utilize at a different time.
SPEAKER_00: So we always have like a friendly competition, making two teams.
SPEAKER_00: This particular game, it's word scrabble.
SPEAKER_00: So we're studying three to four letter words.
SPEAKER_00: I scrabble them up, I put it, first team that they have their list, first team that finds it, writes it down correctly, and pronounces it, gets a candy.
SPEAKER_00: So here you are, the candies, the more candy, they love the candy.
SPEAKER_00: So the more can and more times they win, more stuff there, more candy they're gonna get.
SPEAKER_00: So here we are uh having that competition.
SPEAKER_00: The thing is that we have children from 10 years old, and uh our sister here, that's you know, 55 plus.
SPEAKER_00: So I gotta find that balance.
SPEAKER_00: It's it's it's tough.
SPEAKER_00: It's not like I got a different age group.
SPEAKER_00: So the Lord has opened the door to a secular radio station.
SPEAKER_00: We teach God's word Saturdays from 9 to 10.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, this is Victor Rodriguez, which is the uh pastor, the the senior pastor there, and we're which we're training up, guiding, strengthening, and we're out there, we get it for an hour.
SPEAKER_00: He teaches for 30 minutes, and then I teach for 30 minutes.
SPEAKER_00: So praise the Lord for that.
SPEAKER_00: That's something to evangelize uh to the community there.
SPEAKER_00: Uh a lot of times this is Pastor Um Gosh, Mesia, Kenyon Mesia from California, uh Camino Viviente Fontana, he came down to visit us.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes when we can't make the radio station, we pre-record the the um the study in a USB drive and we just drop it off at the radio station so it still gets uh spoken every Saturday.
SPEAKER_00: So unfortunately, uh you know uh Victor's father, that's his mother and it's his sister, his uh his dad passed away.
SPEAKER_00: Or I like to say graduated, right?
SPEAKER_00: He graduated.
SPEAKER_00: So we see um he um they uh cremated him and we were there to uh help him out during that time.
SPEAKER_00: And it's different over there, over there.
SPEAKER_00: If you buy a plot there, you could put three bodies in there.
SPEAKER_00: It's it's different.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if you cremate everybody, you could probably put 20 people in there because you can see the box.
SPEAKER_00: This is where he was at right here.
SPEAKER_00: They don't keep that in their house, they just it's just bad memories for them.
SPEAKER_00: They'd rather just bury it.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: So as I talked to the youth, I told them, I said, what the Lord is doing in our hearts, why don't we represent that?
SPEAKER_00: So we find different locations that are dirty and we start cleaning it up.
SPEAKER_00: Let's clean up the town, just like the Lord is cleaning us up.
SPEAKER_00: Let's clean up the town.
SPEAKER_00: So we're out there representing the Lord out in public.
SPEAKER_00: Here's a few pictures, like I said, once again, showing the youth a different mindset, a different uh way of life, a hope.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the before and after, uh, kind of just the stuff that we're doing out there.
SPEAKER_00: And this Maria.
SPEAKER_00: And then uh, so we have a or there's a pig farm, a pig farm that needs a lot of work.
SPEAKER_00: So um the Lord has also given us a skill to weld, so we're out there uh just fixing uh different projects or stuff to fortify that uh pig farm.
SPEAKER_00: The reason for that, um our focus is to be self-sufficient, and that's where it's gonna come from.
SPEAKER_00: So we need to strengthen that.
SPEAKER_00: He's got a direction, but it's just got to be it's seasonal.
SPEAKER_00: We want it yearly, where the revenue is constantly coming in.
SPEAKER_00: So here we are, it's Enrique, one of the guys that we're discipling.
SPEAKER_00: And uh, a good litter in a pig is 10 or more.
SPEAKER_00: And it's a gamble.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's just it's just different.
SPEAKER_00: I can't say that every time they're gonna produce that.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, you know, over here we ride Toro's uh bulls, over there we go hog wild, and that's not a Harley Davidson either, right?
SPEAKER_00: Or it's a hog to him, right?
SPEAKER_00: So here we are just doing different projects.
SPEAKER_00: Um, when they're once they're pregnant or or looks like they might be pregnant, you have to care for them individually.
SPEAKER_00: Two different projects, welding wherever it's needed.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, we also do uh projects through wood with signs that are edifying.
SPEAKER_00: Uh sigue a Cristo, follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Resiliencia is resilience.
SPEAKER_00: That's on top of the doors going into the discipleship home because it's the process uh of the trauma that has happened in your life and the process that Jesus Christ is putting, you know, uh guiding you through, walking you through that process.
SPEAKER_00: So it's resiliencia, right?
SPEAKER_00: And uh there's a scripture underneath.
SPEAKER_00: This is uh uh Joel uh chapter 2, 25 to 26.
SPEAKER_00: What it paraphrased, it's just uh the Lord will restore what the locust has taken.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: A hope for each and every one of them.
SPEAKER_00: Also, different projects that we're putting in the church to kind of like the church to kind of just reflect on it.
SPEAKER_00: This question is quienes el alfarero en tu vida, who is the potter in your life?
SPEAKER_00: Of course, if we ask that, we're gonna say God, and then you gotta think about that because if it's so, then why do we always try to fix ourselves?
SPEAKER_00: If God is the potter.
SPEAKER_00: So we have to establish that first, and of course, this represents that the jarito, this is the representation.
SPEAKER_00: If Adolfo always tries to fix himself, this is the result.
SPEAKER_00: But if I allow Jesus to do that, and I understand that he's the potter, that's the result of that.
SPEAKER_00: So it goes alongside 2 Corinthians 5 17.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, whoever's in Christ is a new creation, the old man is gone, the new has come.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So that's just something so they can just stop and reflect uh on those, and the Lord's given us an opportunity.
SPEAKER_00: Those are old palettes.
SPEAKER_00: So um we just uh sharing with them how um with with what what someone might think is trash, or that old saying, one man's trash is another man's treasure.
SPEAKER_00: That was someone's trash, a pallet.
SPEAKER_00: I said, let's make it into something beautiful to make it look nice.
SPEAKER_00: So here once again, this is where the church meets at.
SPEAKER_00: You know, this is the property.
SPEAKER_00: We go to different rehabilitation centers and we go teach the word.
SPEAKER_00: Um, over there it's a little bit different.
SPEAKER_00: You see this kid right here, he's 13 years old.
SPEAKER_00: So they don't have that A, oh, 18 goes over here and 18 uh above 18.
SPEAKER_00: They just put them together, and over there is a lot different the way they do things.
SPEAKER_00: But the Lord has opened the door for us to go teach at different discipleship homes.
SPEAKER_00: So there we are teaching God's word to them, giving them a hope.
SPEAKER_00: And then the Lord has opened the door for us to baptize.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, from time to time, we went to the river and we were able to baptize two of the juveniles or the youth that um that are part of the the church, and then um this is his the grandpa to the kids, and then one of the brothers that were discipling there.
SPEAKER_00: So praise the Lord for that.
SPEAKER_00: So this is a a particular uh dessert night.
SPEAKER_00: Uh the focus is to, they're not used to uh something elegant or something special.
SPEAKER_00: So for our focus is to to bring up that hope, to bring up difference.
SPEAKER_00: And so we ended up uh getting different stuff, and you know, voila, we came up with that.
SPEAKER_00: So they were they were they were they were uh really amazed on that, and I used everybody um and just assigned different uh uh duties, and we just came up with that, you know.
SPEAKER_00: So that was something that was awesome once again to get their mindset.
SPEAKER_00: I we bought some stuff to to get desserts, so I asked certain ladies, sisters from the church to uh do pastries, and so it was uh pastry night, and then we made cappuccinos for them, something they're not used to, and we just had a blast.
SPEAKER_00: These are the guys that we're discipling right now.
SPEAKER_00: So we had a conference, a women's conference, all and uh there was about 20, 25 women, uh Pastor Genomesia.
SPEAKER_00: And once again, afterwards, they had a dinner, so we also dressed up the uh the area where they were gonna eat, make it look elegant for them, make them feel special.
SPEAKER_00: We also had a men's conference, um, our focus uh to strengthen the men, about 20 men there.
SPEAKER_00: And once again, afterwards, men love steak, so we hooked it up with carne sala.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so we dressed it up a little bit different, but it was something that kind of just uh just enhanced the mindset.
SPEAKER_00: Um or not, I want to say struggling, but that we're going against is this is the Santa Muerte, Santeria.
SPEAKER_00: This is uh a witchcraft doctor, a brujo.
SPEAKER_00: Uh the Santa Muerte is a hybrid of Catholicism and uh black voodoo.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so they worship the dead.
SPEAKER_00: So this is they just set up on the street, they put their table, and they you know they do what they do.
SPEAKER_00: Um one of the other classes that we do is uh Calvary Chapel Distinctive class, understand who we are, what we're doing.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, this particular class, I think was uh chapters 10, was the love of the supremacy of God's love, which is one of the nine fruits of the spirit.
SPEAKER_00: So I asked the Lord, Lord God, what can we do to to enhance this this uh study?
SPEAKER_00: So we they they they do a lot of agriculture out there, so I just started YouTubing different like uh stuff that you can do with fruit, and we came up with a lot of these different figures, you know, to make them think different, right?
SPEAKER_00: Because they're conformed to the ground, if you think about it.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: The reason why I say that, I'm not bashing it, but the normal uh person works for 350 pesos, which is 25 to$30 a day from sunup to sundown.
SPEAKER_00: The others only work for 100 to 150 pesos, which is ten dollars to fifteen dollars from sunup to sundown a day.
SPEAKER_00: All right, so they've been surviving and they survive.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying that they survived awesome, but we need to get them off that mindset, and I told them, I said, I'm not telling you we're gonna drive Lamborghinis.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, what I am saying, we're not gonna be on the ground.
SPEAKER_00: That's for sure.
SPEAKER_00: We weren't made to be on the ground, so get up and walk.
SPEAKER_00: So you you know it's something that it was so beautiful, they've adapted their own creativity, and uh, we came up with a a just a display table, and it was pretty awesome, and then afterwards, of course, we gotta eat it.
SPEAKER_00: Alright?
SPEAKER_00: So that was a blast.
SPEAKER_00: So we did the Samaritan purse.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, we had the kids, they presented the uh gospel, and we see the boxes.
SPEAKER_00: Alright, so just so you know, the boxes do get out there.
SPEAKER_00: Um, a lot of these boxes came from like Mississippi and Georgia, and I and a lot of them had their church address with the couple that sent it, and I asked them and I said, hey, maybe because this just happened before I left.
SPEAKER_00: Um, maybe when uh when I come back, we can write to them and just tell them, hey, thank you.
SPEAKER_00: Your box got to Mexico.
SPEAKER_00: Because they don't know where that box goes, right?
SPEAKER_00: So it's something encouraging for the for the send D.
SPEAKER_00: So here you are having a blast.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of these products are like Dollar Tree stuff, but to them it's like it's like Gucci, right?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I think that's it right there, right?
SPEAKER_00: So that's just a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: I couldn't put everything, but uh it does give you um an understanding of what we're doing.
SPEAKER_00: We're doing uh counseling, we're restructuring the women's discipleship home.
SPEAKER_00: Um and um we're just uh just have different classes.
SPEAKER_00: We when we go back, hopefully, God willingly, um, we will start like a mini apologetics, but very basic.
SPEAKER_00: All right?
SPEAKER_00: Why do you believe what you believe?
SPEAKER_00: That's all.
SPEAKER_00: You know, our focus is to grow.
SPEAKER_00: There's about 40 members right now.
SPEAKER_00: And about 25 kids.
SPEAKER_00: So our focus is to strengthen, fortify what's already there.
SPEAKER_00: All right?
SPEAKER_00: And then we can go out.
SPEAKER_00: You know, the Lord will do the increase after that.
SPEAKER_00: But our focus is the leadership right now there.
SPEAKER_00: But that's uh a quick update, you know, that what's been happening for a year and a half.
SPEAKER_00: And um, so, and it's awesome.
SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
SPEAKER_00: But Pastor Josh has asked me to speak a little bit or speak about obedience in faith.
SPEAKER_00: So when he asked me that, I'm thinking, well, Lord, what do we do here?
SPEAKER_00: How do we, what's, what's that picture like?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: And I thought about Noah.
SPEAKER_00: No and the flood.
SPEAKER_00: All right?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, good old Noah in uh Genesis chapter 6.
SPEAKER_00: So um it's gonna be more of a devotional, more of a focus on certain things, applicational, but I believe that you'll get something.
SPEAKER_00: Um let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray real quick.
SPEAKER_00: Let's ask the Lord to guide us.
SPEAKER_00: So, my Lord Jesus Christ, we come to you today thanking you for this beautiful day that you've given us.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for the opportunity to encourage the body here, uh, allowing me to come back and say hello and uh giving the privilege to uh feed your flock, my Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So help us.
SPEAKER_00: I pray for each and every one of us uh that what you know our petitions, you know our strength, our weaknesses, we thank you for the victories and we thank you for the defeats.
SPEAKER_00: Because that's awesome, because it's the time to grow, to understand and correct.
SPEAKER_00: So help us, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: My prayer is that each and every one of us leave those doors different than when they came in.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because of your word.
SPEAKER_00: This active living double-edged sword may change our heart, may it stir something up.
SPEAKER_00: May your word be that pilot to ignite that flame, my Lord God.
SPEAKER_00: Help us, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Your students are listening.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Genesis chapter six, verse nine.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says, these are the generations of Noah.
SPEAKER_00: Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation.
SPEAKER_00: Noah walked with God.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: So I want to dial in first with that phrase, Noah walked with God.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm reading out of the ESV.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: Noah walked with God.
SPEAKER_00: So the word walk, when we walk with somebody, think of the focus on that.
SPEAKER_00: So when we're walking with somebody, it's because I know that person.
SPEAKER_00: I don't just say a random stranger, hey, can I can I walk with you today?
SPEAKER_00: Hey, can I walk with you today?
SPEAKER_00: Hey, can no, no, you know somebody, you know them.
SPEAKER_00: That's why you're walking with them, right?
SPEAKER_00: So when you're walking with them, you're spending time with them.
SPEAKER_00: You're investing time with them, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's valuable.
SPEAKER_00: If you're a couple, it's intimate.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: So think about that.
SPEAKER_00: Noah walked with God.
SPEAKER_00: Also, you have to understand when we're walking alongside somebody, we're pretty close, right?
SPEAKER_00: I don't think when I say, hey, let's go for a walk, and they stay on the other side of the on the street, and I'm on the other side.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, so how was your day?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: We we're not that far.
SPEAKER_00: We're close.
SPEAKER_00: Because it says Noah walked with God.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Because a lot of times when we're not walking too close, what do we tend to follow?
SPEAKER_00: What do we tend to, what tends to distort that voice?
SPEAKER_00: Here in the city, we got loud horns, right?
SPEAKER_00: Loud sounds, construction, you know, whatever the case might be, and we might not be hearing that voice pretty clear, right?
SPEAKER_00: But we see right here that it says Noah walked with God.
SPEAKER_00: So now the focus is so we we understand, we have a brief understanding of walking.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: And we also understand how it is to walk a little bit far away from somebody.
SPEAKER_00: Alright?
SPEAKER_00: But I want to dial in because of the fact that the Bible says that Noah walked with God.
SPEAKER_00: Now he understood who his God was, so we have to understand who God is in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: There's the God of the Bible, there's the God of this earth.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: That's what the Bible says.
SPEAKER_00: Who is our God?
SPEAKER_00: We have to establish this too.
SPEAKER_00: Noah walked with God.
SPEAKER_00: So his focus, he understands, he knows who I'm walking with.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Now, let's direct our focus on the word Noah or the name Noah.
SPEAKER_00: Because we we serve a personal God, right?
SPEAKER_00: He wants to know you personally.
SPEAKER_00: So I have to put my name in there.
SPEAKER_00: Now, think about this.
SPEAKER_00: When I say that, that I'm gonna put my name there, is that statement true?
SPEAKER_00: Adolphal walked with God.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm declaring.
SPEAKER_00: I can say it, but what's happening here?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: So it's a strong statement.
SPEAKER_00: Noah Adolfo walk with God.
SPEAKER_00: It's a declaration.
SPEAKER_00: I'm declaring who I'm walking with.
SPEAKER_00: I declare who I follow.
SPEAKER_00: I declare who's in my heart.
SPEAKER_00: I declare.
SPEAKER_00: Stand firm.
SPEAKER_00: That's what the Bible teaches us, right?
SPEAKER_00: So now, what does that say?
SPEAKER_00: Noah walk with God in his generation, it says.
SPEAKER_00: So what does that say?
SPEAKER_00: Noah stood out amongst his generation.
SPEAKER_00: You know, to stand out, right now, like, wow, bro, you look pretty sharp.
SPEAKER_00: I said, bro, I couldn't find a better way, a better day to look sharp for my God.
SPEAKER_00: A better day, a better time to look sharp for my family.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: So, in a sense, you can say, stand out.
SPEAKER_00: So if I was wearing a fluorescent green suit, I would stand out amongst the crowd, right?
SPEAKER_00: If I go walking downtown, I'm gonna stand out because of the suit.
SPEAKER_00: So I want to know why Noah stand out.
SPEAKER_00: Was it because he had a green suit on?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: So we have to define that.
SPEAKER_00: We have to understand that.
SPEAKER_00: What is that?
SPEAKER_00: Why did he stand out?
SPEAKER_00: So it says, amongst his generation, it says, these are verse 9.
SPEAKER_00: These are the generations of Noah.
SPEAKER_00: So it doesn't give us too much.
SPEAKER_00: It just says these are the generations of Noah.
SPEAKER_00: Where's the generations of Noah?
SPEAKER_00: He just starts off that way.
SPEAKER_00: That's why it's very essential for us to study, dissect God's word verse by verse, chapter by chapter.
SPEAKER_00: Because if you were reading chapter 5, all of chapter 5 talks about the descendants from Adam to Noah.
SPEAKER_00: So that's why it declares or it starts, these are the generations of Noah.
SPEAKER_00: You can see his family tree to his point.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: And then it says, Noah was a righteous, or in the King James it says just man.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: And it says blameless.
SPEAKER_00: Or if you got the King James, it says perfect in his generation.
SPEAKER_00: So it's like, what do you mean he's perfect?
SPEAKER_00: I thought no one was perfect other than Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Alright?
SPEAKER_00: When we see that word perfection or perfect, sorry, perfect, we're talking about maturity.
SPEAKER_00: We're talking about right living.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: We're talking about that Noah, now we're gonna get into why he stood out amongst his generation, is righteousness is according to God's standard.
SPEAKER_00: We're walking alongside him.
SPEAKER_00: Like Lord, your Bible says, I'm gonna follow.
SPEAKER_00: Right living with God.
SPEAKER_00: So I think that's an applicable applicational question that I asked myself.
SPEAKER_00: Adolpho, do you walk with God?
SPEAKER_00: Are you walking with God?
SPEAKER_00: I had to ask myself that.
SPEAKER_00: All right, and I think each and every one of us has to ask ourselves that.
SPEAKER_00: Because I think it's a challenge every day.
SPEAKER_00: Some days I'm walking with God, and some days I'm not.
SPEAKER_00: Ooh, right?
SPEAKER_00: I'm not walking with God.
SPEAKER_00: As when we're more honest with ourselves, it's better for us.
SPEAKER_00: You know?
SPEAKER_00: There's sometimes right there.
SPEAKER_00: It's you you probably don't want to hear the language that comes out of my mouth.
SPEAKER_00: That's a fact.
SPEAKER_00: No, that cannot be.
SPEAKER_00: I say, well, it is for me.
SPEAKER_00: That's all I can say.
SPEAKER_00: But thank God for God's grace.
SPEAKER_00: Thank God for God's mercy.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not justifying anything.
SPEAKER_00: All I'm saying, thank God for what he did on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: I have to embrace that.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So we see, he's a righteous man, he's a blameless man in his generation.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about his generation.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna read verses one through seven.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says, When man began to multiply on the face of the land, and the daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive, and they took as their wives any they chose.
SPEAKER_00: Then the Lord said, My spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh.
SPEAKER_00: His days shall be a hundred and twenty years.
SPEAKER_00: The Nephilim were on the earth in those days and also afterward.
SPEAKER_00: When the sons of God came into the daughters of man and they bore children to them, these were the mighty men who were of old the men of renown.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 5.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
SPEAKER_00: And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
SPEAKER_00: Seven.
SPEAKER_00: So the Lord said, I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals, and creepy things, and birds of heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.
SPEAKER_00: So that gives us a pretty deep description of Noah's generation.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: So while everybody was doing that, Noah was serving the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: So he stood out because he was living righteously, right?
SPEAKER_00: With the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: So it wasn't, it eliminates the factor.
SPEAKER_00: I wonder if he was wearing a green, fluorescent green tuxedo.
SPEAKER_00: So it wasn't because of that.
SPEAKER_00: It was because he was trying to live right.
SPEAKER_00: We're not talking about perfection, once again.
SPEAKER_00: We're talking about Lord, I'm gonna do my very best today.
SPEAKER_00: But I thank you that you're gonna carry me through it.
SPEAKER_00: But we gotta show up.
SPEAKER_00: We gotta show up.
SPEAKER_00: We can't just be out on the couch watching movies.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm safe.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know about them.
SPEAKER_00: We gotta get up and walk, right?
SPEAKER_00: We're walking.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, we started, Noah walked with God.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so one man stood out amongst darkness.
SPEAKER_00: That's what basically what I got from those seven verses.
SPEAKER_00: Noah stood out amongst darkness, and the Lord communicates us.
SPEAKER_00: It's like, man, my heart hurts, right?
SPEAKER_00: So we could understand our human lingo, so we could understand him.
SPEAKER_00: I'm crying, I'm sad.
SPEAKER_00: But here comes God's grace, mercy, verse eight.
SPEAKER_00: But Noah, the butt factor, but Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Praise the Lord for that.
SPEAKER_00: Praise the Lord, Noah.
SPEAKER_00: Right.
SPEAKER_00: I remember when I uh um when I finished Teen Challenge in uh 2015, um, I went to take my certificate of completion.
SPEAKER_00: It's a discipleship home.
SPEAKER_00: If you guys don't uh aware of team challenge, it's a discipleship home.
SPEAKER_00: I took it to the judge.
SPEAKER_00: Uh he says, uh, your your court order to go for one year, I took the completion.
SPEAKER_00: And I remember there was a guard there, a guard that knew me from before.
SPEAKER_00: All right, because I was a regular.
SPEAKER_00: I was a regular.
SPEAKER_00: He said, bro, dude, you're like one of them salmones that made it upstream, brother.
SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, right, huh?
SPEAKER_00: I didn't think about it.
SPEAKER_00: But he's like, wow, that's awesome, bro.
SPEAKER_00: He's like, bro, look, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_00: The salmons gotta fight the rocks, gotta fight the the current, gotta fight the bears, gotta fight all this different stuff.
SPEAKER_00: But those that persevere to the end will receive the crown of life.
SPEAKER_00: Does not the Bible say that?
SPEAKER_00: So it's the same analogy.
SPEAKER_00: It's like, oh wow, that's so cool, man.
SPEAKER_00: But it wasn't over yet.
SPEAKER_00: Because the journey started in 2014, and we're still here.
SPEAKER_00: It's like, man, now we're here, right?
SPEAKER_00: So it's the thing, standing now amongst the darkness.
SPEAKER_00: Noah found favor or brought a smile, you would say, to God.
SPEAKER_00: Like, man.
SPEAKER_00: I look at like gosh, my heart.
SPEAKER_00: But then Noah's like, yeah.
SPEAKER_00: All right?
SPEAKER_00: The world.
SPEAKER_00: But then he looks at Haven City Church and gets a smile.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: That's my family right there.
SPEAKER_00: That's my children.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: That's something where once again, we need to stand out.
SPEAKER_00: Alright?
SPEAKER_00: When the world's backing up, we need to back for we need to stand up forward.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever that might be, I don't know what it is.
SPEAKER_00: But we definitely understand and know that we need to stand out for the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: What that is, I think it differs in different ways.
SPEAKER_00: Why do I say that?
SPEAKER_00: In Mexico, I try not to wear suits.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, it's hot.
SPEAKER_00: It's hot, man.
SPEAKER_00: I'm cool.
SPEAKER_00: But people do that still, you know?
SPEAKER_00: Like different missionaries.
SPEAKER_00: They're like suited up, and it's like a thousand degrees.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, bro, that's crazy, man.
SPEAKER_00: All right, man.
SPEAKER_00: Hey.
SPEAKER_00: But think about it.
SPEAKER_00: I did that one time, and their Sunday best, where I'm at.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: Where I'm at, it's a very rural place.
SPEAKER_00: It's flip-flops, tour pants, best shirt they got.
SPEAKER_00: Probably we would think we'd probably sell it over here at the command center.
SPEAKER_00: And I felt bad, man.
SPEAKER_00: Man, never again.
SPEAKER_00: Never again.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna meet them.
SPEAKER_00: If they wear sandals, I'm gonna wear sandals.
SPEAKER_00: If they wear shorts, I'm gonna wear shorts.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna blend in.
SPEAKER_00: Because I don't want them to think, oh, you them to put me in a pedestal in any way, shape, or form.
SPEAKER_00: Because then the focus is not Christ, it's oh, I gotta be like Adolphin.
SPEAKER_00: And that's incorrect.
SPEAKER_00: You follow Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So that's what I mean when we stand out.
SPEAKER_00: It shouldn't be for for for uh in espanholic vanagloria.
SPEAKER_00: Bring glory to us.
SPEAKER_00: Should be bringing glory to Christ Jesus Christ, right?
SPEAKER_00: We should stand out because we're constantly bringing glory to Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Because we see Noah stood out amongst the darkness.
SPEAKER_00: So think about that.
SPEAKER_00: So He the Lord tells Noah, Noah, I'm sad, but I'm so happy that you're you've been fighting the good fight of faith.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna destroy this world.
SPEAKER_00: Build an ark.
SPEAKER_00: Because here comes thunder, here comes rain, here comes the flood.
SPEAKER_00: It has not rained to that point.
SPEAKER_00: What is rain?
SPEAKER_00: What is flood?
SPEAKER_00: I don't understand, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Me neither, brother.
SPEAKER_00: But the Lord tells us, I'm not asking you to understand, I'm asking you to walk forward.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: So think about it.
SPEAKER_00: So the Lord tells him this.
SPEAKER_00: He's walking with God, so it's very clear of that voice.
SPEAKER_00: And he starts chopping away.
SPEAKER_00: Alright?
SPEAKER_00: It's like building an ark in the desert.
SPEAKER_00: People clowning them.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, there's crazy Noah.
SPEAKER_00: You know, where's the water at, Noah?
SPEAKER_00: That's another thing.
SPEAKER_00: Think about it.
SPEAKER_00: The ark was a football and a half, a foot-bo and a half long.
SPEAKER_00: Four stories high.
SPEAKER_00: We're not talking about little pole.
SPEAKER_00: Man, I don't understand this.
SPEAKER_00: Now, the Bible says that he was at it for a hundred and plus years chopping away.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Don't you think at a certain point?
SPEAKER_00: Gosh, dude, I mean, dude, did I hear right?
SPEAKER_00: We're human.
SPEAKER_00: Think of John the Baptist.
SPEAKER_00: In one chapter, he's declaring there's the Messiah.
SPEAKER_00: The guy that I've been preaching about.
SPEAKER_00: It's him.
SPEAKER_00: Without a shadow of a doubt.
SPEAKER_00: A few chapters later, he's in the joint in the jail cell, singing the blues, sends his disciples.
SPEAKER_00: Are you really the Messiah?
SPEAKER_00: So we're human.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna doubt.
SPEAKER_00: We get mad when our coffee doesn't warm up in two minutes.
SPEAKER_00: Gosh, what's wrong?
SPEAKER_00: Why the torture?
SPEAKER_00: Now think about a hundred years.
SPEAKER_00: Plus.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: It's all always debatable.
SPEAKER_00: I just don't like to get into all that nonsense.
SPEAKER_00: It's a hundred plus years.
SPEAKER_00: It was a long time, basically.
SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
SPEAKER_00: Obedient in that faith.
SPEAKER_00: What is faith?
SPEAKER_00: Now, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
SPEAKER_00: He's never seen water, he's never seen a flood.
SPEAKER_00: What are you talking about?
SPEAKER_00: But he had that faith.
SPEAKER_00: Like I know what I heard from the big man.
SPEAKER_00: I gotta follow orders.
SPEAKER_00: I gotta be obedient.
SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't matter how long it takes, he said it, and I'm gonna do it.
SPEAKER_00: All right, we have to be obedient to that voice because I thought about like what's that picture when Pastor Josh told me, what's that picture like?
SPEAKER_00: I'm thinking like no uh uh uh uh Jonah, right?
SPEAKER_00: David, there's other heroes, we would say, right?
SPEAKER_00: There's other forefathers, we would say, there's other examples we have in the Bible that can do the same thing.
SPEAKER_00: We can do the same thing with that study.
SPEAKER_00: But Noah stood out like he stood out to me.
SPEAKER_00: He stood out amongst that generation, and he was obedient in that faith.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, it says Hebrews chapter 11, verse 7, the Bible says, by faith, it says, Noah being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear, constructed an ark for the saving of his household.
SPEAKER_00: By this he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
SPEAKER_00: So when everyone was yelling at him, laughing at him, hey, there's crazy, Noah, he was leading his family.
SPEAKER_00: He was leading his family, but not only that, if we look at 2 Peter chapter 2, verse 5, it says the Bible says that he was a preacher of righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: So not only was he chopping away, sawing, afterwards, he's going out there and preaching.
SPEAKER_00: A simple message: repent, for the flood is coming.
SPEAKER_00: A simple message, being obedient in something you haven't seen.
SPEAKER_00: That's the picture that I got.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Noah and the Ark.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Husbands, single moms, parents.
SPEAKER_00: Which way are we leading our kids?
SPEAKER_00: That's the generation that follows.
SPEAKER_00: How are we gonna lead them?
SPEAKER_00: How are we gonna what what's the direction we're taking?
SPEAKER_00: You know, I I tell a lot of people, I'm like, man, we can complain and say the cartel, the cartel, the cartel, but I've heard a lot of that complaining.
SPEAKER_00: Let's make some action happen.
SPEAKER_00: How can we make a difference?
SPEAKER_00: One soul at a time, and that's the youth, the kids.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: So that's where we see, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Noah leading his family.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So we see, we get back to Genesis chapter 6, verse 11, and we'll end here.
SPEAKER_00: Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence, and God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt.
SPEAKER_00: For all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth, and God said to Noah, through them.
SPEAKER_00: Behold, I will destroy them with the earth, make yourself an ark of gold for wood, make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.
SPEAKER_00: So that word pitch is another uh meaning of cover, cover over, or covering or atonement.
SPEAKER_00: What did God do for us?
SPEAKER_00: What did Christ do for us?
SPEAKER_00: Atone for our sins.
SPEAKER_00: So we see the representation.
SPEAKER_00: Old Testament concealed, New Testament revealed through Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So for me, brothers and sisters, that's the picture.
SPEAKER_00: And I hope that uh whether it was a word, a phrase, or the whole message, that's a picture of being obedient.
SPEAKER_00: When you can't see something, right?
SPEAKER_00: That's obedience in faith.
SPEAKER_00: You can't see something, and it doesn't matter how long, because think of Noah.
SPEAKER_00: All right, next time we complain with the microwave.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Or whatever that might be.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, thank you so much.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: So, Lord God, thank you for this time.
SPEAKER_00: Lord God, I I ask you that it has it was nothing that I said, my Lord God, and I hope that I said everything you said.
SPEAKER_00: I hope that the years that it landed to, the hearts that it landed to, that they make their discernment.
SPEAKER_00: Was it of you or wasn't it of you?
SPEAKER_00: Lord God, because you give an option, you give us that that free will.
SPEAKER_00: But I ask, Lord God, that whatever came out of my mouth, Lord God, may it have been edifying, direction, strengthening, Lord God, to ignite so it can be a strong fire.
SPEAKER_00: Help us, Lord God, and we continue as we wait for that glorious day to meet you face to face.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.