Morning. Would you all stand? I want to welcome you this morning to Calvary Chapel, those of you here with us, and we want to welcome those who are watching online, joining us that way. Would you join me in prayer? Father, we just lift up our time to you. We come to you this morning just as we are, Lord. Would you impart your spirit of wisdom to us in the revelation and knowledge of you, Lord, and enlighten the eyes of our understanding that we

may see clearly and be encouraged in the hope of that calling from you, Lord. Strengthen us with your might this morning. Encourage us each in our walk and witness for you. Be glorified. May we sing as unto you this morning. And Father, as we come, you know what's on each heart. You know what we're looking at, what we're facing, our rejoicings, our weepings, and all those things, Lord. May we just

sing as unto you. Let go, knowing you are working in us both to will and do of your good pleasure. We give you praise.

Lord, this morning, you may be seated. We thank you for your faithfulness, Lord. We praise you for your loving kindness. We trust you this morning. We put our confidence in you this morning. We know your word says, trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not to thine own ways. Acknowledge that we will direct our paths. Amen. It's true.

God of grace and I can't understand. Praise you, God of earth and sky. Never change, God.

In the midst of thee is mighty. He will save. He will rejoice over thee with love. He will rest in his love and joy over thee with singing. We praise you, Lord, this morning. The attitudes that of ourselves and realizing that really we are merely, sinners, saved by God. And because of your son, Jesus Christ, peace has been made. Just to praise you, Hosanna, save us. A cross for us. That raising from the dead, other interceding for

Jesus.

My gaze transfixed.

Study your word this morning, Lord. As we come, just as we are, our hearts, Lord, help us yield ourselves for you because you first loved us. Make us what you want us to be without this Christian walk. apart. You're moving on us. We give you praise this morning. And it's on my heart just to ask that you would comfort the Jardine family as Pastor Rick has gone to be with you. Strengthen

the Lord. Strengthen us in the times of need. Help us keep our eyes on you. In Jesus' name, bless Rick as he teaches. Amen. Good morning, everybody. Mr. Ross, you're on. Good morning, everybody. Why am I up here? Operation Christmas Child. Very good. When are the boxes due? November 14th. Sunday, November 14th. And that's next Sunday, right? Okay. Well, a couple

things I want to talk about. We are going to be in the Agape room after the service today. There are a bunch of donations back there where people have been bringing stuff to put in your shoe boxes if you need some ideas. Plus, we have paperwork on examples if you're packing for a young. A young boy, a young girl, even up to a teenager. So there's different examples for different

age groups. If your box is done, please bring it and put it right over there. So we have some examples here. This is a box that we're going to put over there. It's packed for a two to four girl. Okay. And then here's another one. If you're looking for examples, this was packed for a girl. older girl 10 to 14 years old and there's all kinds of stuff in here there's toothbrushes and toiletries and shoes and clothes and stuff like that

and then here's some homemade items I think these are some of them are handmade as examples so if you're making stuff like this to put in for children by all means do stuff like that and here's a here's a Barbie doll that has all handmade clothes in it I think that a woman's been making for for months to prepare as a Wow gift for a little child who knows and maybe living in our dirt floor and gets this little doll to play with and it's got all kinds of stuff in there so so there's some examples also if you're if you're packing for a if you're gonna help if you have young children and they're gonna help you pack we have a bunch of these in the back and what it says is you can put the your child can put their favorite color their food their activity

put their name on here and address so a child can write them back and look just a little cute little thing that the children can put in and also like I was saying here's the this is the examples that we have in the back so please stop by and get these we have lots of them back there and once you want your child oh are you drop a shoe box over here please take a sticker and put it on here says I packed a shoe box so with with that we're gonna show a quick video if you're ready it all goes great with a glass of milk packing an operation Christmas job shoebox basically you get an empty box which any box work looks like I'll be packing for a boy this year first you can choose a Wow item such as a soccer ball of course some items you

cannot pack live animals if this finish you can write a letter and include a photo make your shipping donation online through follow your box simply print off your tracking and you're good to go. and don't forget it's important to pray for the child that is receiving this gift because packing the box is a simple way to share the gospel with kids all around the world now that your box is done it's time to get moving transport your box to a nearby drop-off location near you these will be open all across the u.s. on national collection week third week in November drop it off and voila you packed a shoebox. isn't that a great video by the way there's some other options if you can't

pack a shoebox or you don't you don't have time you can go to the operation Christmas child website and make I think it's six dollars they will pack a shoebox for you okay so all you got to do is make a donation with your credit card and they'll take care of it and they'll put together the the gifts and then this label that we have we have plenty of these labels when you fill this out you can take a picture of your little QR code and then you can send it to your child or your children's home and they'll send you a QR code right here and you can see where your box is all the way up until it's delivered to a child in Africa or Mozambique who knows where it's gonna go right Mexico Columbia they

go all over the world but you can track it with this label one more video this is the distribution center where we go down we went last year did we go last year yeah we went last year I can't remember anyways we've gone to it multiple times I don't think this was last year I think it was a year before last I don't think this was last year I think it was a year before last but we've gone to it multiple times I don't think this was last year I think it was a year before last but we've gone to it multiple times I don't think this was last year I think it was a year before last Glenn you'll see here and Pastor Ryan and Glenn you'll see here and Pastor Ryan and several others and this is our Calvary

several others and this is our Calvary Chapel cheer that we that Glenn is Chapel cheer that we that Glenn is responsible for that's it okay that's everything if you have any questions if you have any questions one let one last thing the distribution we're taking signups in the back if you want to go to this distribution center please put your name on the list at the table in the back when Jen and I'll be back there afterwards and we'll be signing up to go sometime in December all right that's everything thank you guys and you're gonna have to where that box in here some time I got a few announcements to make this week we're doing all the same things that we usually do we have a prophecy update this week is that this week No, not this week.

It's the second Thursday, so that's still a couple weeks off. Of every month. But we have men's and ladies' studies on Monday nights, and I encourage young, old to all come and take part. Young men can learn from older men, and older men can encourage younger men, and older men can be encouraged by older men. And it's a really good thing to come and fellowship.

And I know for me, early on in my walk, if it wasn't for a lot of older guys coming alongside me, I probably wouldn't be where I am. Yeah? I wouldn't know, but yeah. Yeah. So I would encourage young men, step out, take a chance, and go hang out with some old guys.

Ladies, ladies, it works both ways. It works for you guys as well. And then. Tuesday night, we have regular home fellowship and college night. Wednesday night, we have a Bible study. We're going through Exodus right now with Ryan, and I would encourage all of us to come along and take the ride through the Old Testament with Pastor Ryan. And then we have this Saturday at Bricks at 8 a.m., women's fellowship breakfast.

Ladies, come out and fellowship. Men's. Having another fellowship breakfast on October 16th in the Agape room right across the way. And also tonight, we have intercessory prayer. Come. Let's lift up the community together. Let's come and pray for one another together. There's nothing more powerful that we have than prayer in the body of Christ. That's our weapon.

We can't really do anything outside of the will of God, and that's what we're asking for. We're seeking his face to see what he wants to do here. So I would encourage you all to come along and join the night tonight at six for intercessory prayer. And that should be it for all of the announcements. Okay. So if you would like to turn to Psalms 51, that's where we're going to have a reading at this morning.

I'll read the odd number of verses, and you can follow Lewis with this even number of verses.

We already had it found before we started. So we. We're ready up here already.

Okay. I'll go ahead and get started. Be gracious to me, O God, according to your loving kindness, according to the greatness of your compassion, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight so that you are justified when you speak and blameless when you judge.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, your desired truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part you will make me know wisdom. Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness. Let the bones which you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a new life. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will be converted to you. Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation.

Then my tongue will joyfully sing of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips. Then my mouth may declare your praise. For you do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it. You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. By your favor, do good to Zion. Build the walls of Jerusalem.

Then you will delight in righteous sacrifices and burnt offering and whole burnt offerings. Then young bulls will be offered on your altar. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your forgiveness. We thank you that you desire our worship and you desire for us to have a broken and contrite spirit, Lord, that we could just be able to come into your presence and worship

you and to be used by you to give you glory. And we just lift this time up to you now and just ask that you be glorified in Jesus' name. Amen. I am not a spontaneous person. And Pastor Rick up in Olathe passed away this week. And Ryan got a hold of me at work Friday and asked me to fill in for him today. So most of the time when I speak someplace, I've got weeks to prepare because I'm not a spontaneous person.

When I was raised in my family, we were very structured. Supper was always at 5. Chores always had a certain time to be done. Everything was done according to the schedule. And when Christie and I got married, my father-in-law would call me up on Friday night and say, hey, let's go out to eat. And I would go into a panic because it wasn't in my schedule. And after a few years of being in the family, my father-in-law realized that I need a little notice.

So he started calling me a day or two before and say, hey, Rick, Friday night, would you like to go out to eat? And I'd say, yeah, that sounds great. But I'm just not a spontaneous type person. And so this is a little out of the norm for me to give a message like this. Now, before we start, there is one other thing I'd like to share. And this is Pastor Appreciation Month.

And I've been a believer for over 45 years now. And I've heard a lot of good teachers across the country. And I might be a little partial, but I think we have one of the best teachers in the country. I think Ryan is awesome. And one of the best ways you can show him that you appreciate him is to apply the things that he's teaching to you. That he's teaching to your lives.

Because he's doing an excellent job of teaching, but he can't apply those things in your life for you. Those are things that are between you and God. But if you listen and apply them to his life, that's going to be the best way you can show him appreciation. Also, being a pastor is a very lonely position. He's around people a lot, but it's a very lonely position.

And I don't know if you've noticed in a lot of his messages lately, he talks about how the more you walk with God in serving, the smaller the circle of friends you seem to have. Well, I think Ryan needs our encouragement. And I think if you would send him a text, tell him that you appreciate him, tell him that you love him. Drop him a note. Just anything like that that you could do just to show him some appreciation.

I think him and his family both would really appreciate to know that we do care about him. Because I think God has really blessed us with a super pastor and wife. So, I just want to put that out there. So... Okay, we're going to be in 2 Corinthians 3 today. And verse 1 says, Are we beginning to commend ourselves again, or do we need as some letters of commendations to you or from you?

In the early church, they used to use letters of commendation because there was a lot of false teachers, a lot of false prophets that were running around. And so, they would each give these letters of recommendation. So, when they went to speak someplace, they would be backed by somebody. They would be backed by somebody else as they went to speak. A couple of examples in Romans chapter 16, verse 1 and 2, just to remind you all.

I compare scripture from scripture and I jump all over the place. I'm not very good at just staying in one place. I basically like to let the word just speak for itself. And I pretty much try to let the scriptures do that. And so, I jump all over the place. And I think Tammy's going to be putting the scriptures up there where we're going to be at. And you can either jot them down or you can try to turn there.

But by the time you turn there, I'll probably be going to the next one. So, because I've cheated and I've got them all typed out, so I don't have to go looking them up each time. So, but anyway, in Romans chapter 16, verse 1 and 2, it says, I commend to you our sister Phobie, who is a servant of the church, which is at Centria, which is over by Corinth, that you receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, that you help her in whatever manner she may have need of you. For she herself has been a helper of many and of myself as well.

This is one of the first letters of recommendation that are given in the scriptures. And Paul gives it for a woman. You know, we usually think of letters of recommendations being like today ordination papers. But it's not the ordination papers that really say anything. In 1 Corinthians chapter 16, verse 3, Paul says, When I arrive, whomever you may approve,

I will send them with letters to carry your gift to Jerusalem. So he gave Timothy letters. He gave Titus letters. It was something that they did a lot back then. But in verse 2, he says, But you are our letters written in our hearts, known and read by all men. For some people, you are probably going to be the only Bible that they will ever read. How you live your life for Christ is going to be the only thing some people ever see.

As far as Christ is concerned, they won't have the scriptures. I worked with a guy that never even had a Bible in his house. And so for Christmas one year, we gave him a Bible so his family would have a Bible in their house. But you're the only Bible a lot of people are going to have to read. It's how you live your life. And Paul, when he says this, you are our letter, he's not bragging on himself.

He's not saying, I have changed all these people's lives. He says in verse 3, Being manifested that you are letters of Christ cared for by us, written not with ink, but with the spirit of a living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human heart. What he's saying is Christ is the one that's actually doing the writing on people's lives. And Paul was simply the pen.

We're the paper. And God is using Paul, who is the pen, to write on our lives. And in the pen is the Holy Spirit. Paul had the Holy Spirit within him. And as he ministered to people, the Holy Spirit would write on those people's lives and leave a mark on their life. And that's what happens while he's talking about it. The changed life that takes place when we accept Christ,

the work that we do when we share with the people about Christ and they come to know him, they grow in Christ. It's all the work of Christ. And all we are are the instruments, the vessels that are being used. In 2 Corinthians 4, verse 7, it says, But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God, and not from ourselves.

It mentioned in verse 3 that God is writing by a spirit, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts. In Ezekiel 36, verse 27, it says, Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will be careful to observe my ordinances.

Before we know Christ, we basically have a cold heart, a heart of stone, and we're not able to respond to the Spirit of God. But once Christ comes into our life, the Holy Spirit begins to soften our hearts, and we begin to be responsive to the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives. In Jeremiah 31, verse 31 through 33, it says, Behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the days I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them, declares the Lord.

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put my law within them, and on their hearts I will write it, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Salvation is God's work, and there's no way you can live the Christian life on your own. It's impossible. It can only be done as you allow Christ to do that work in you.

In verse 4 through verse 6, it says, And such confidence we have through Christ towards God, not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. None of us are adequate in ourselves to be used by God.

I've been a Christian, as I said, for over 45 years. I still have a problem. I still have a problem with cussing. I still have a problem with lust. I still have a problem with pride. I don't have it together. My life is not together. God wants to use you right where you're at. You don't have to wait to get your life together for God to use you. When I, before I got saved, there was a man.

He wasn't a man back then, just a young guy. He got saved. His name was John Dunn. And he would take me and a friend of mine for a ride in his car. And we would listen to the Moody Blues, smoke pot, and he would tell me about Jesus. And he was just a young believer, and God was using him. Now, am I saying we ought to all go out and smoke pot so we could share with people about Christ?

That's not what I'm saying. In Jude, chapter, verse 4, it says that we're not to turn the grace of God into lasciviousness. We're not to turn the grace of God into a license to sin. In Titus, chapter 2, it says, For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires, and to live sensibly and righteously and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed and to purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good deeds.

The grace of God, teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in this present age. That's what the grace of God does in our lives. But each of us in our walks are in different places. Some of us were raised in churches where we heard the scriptures as kids. Some of us had never heard the scriptures. Some of us were abused growing up.

Some of us have been through horrible situations. And you can look at somebody's life and say, well, they're not much of a Christian. Look how they're living their life. But you know what? You don't know where that person has come from. You don't know how far God has brought them. You know, we all need a little mercy in our lives. In Romans chapter three, verse nine.

Oh, excuse me. In Isaiah chapter 42, verse six. Back in the verse six, it mentioned how that we are going to be servants of a new covenant. And in verse 42, chapter 42, verse six of Isaiah, it says, I am the Lord. I have called you in righteousness. I will hold you by the hand and watch over you. And I will appoint you as a covenant to the people as the light and as a light to the nations.

God is speaking of Jesus here at this part. He's talking about I've called you in righteousness. I will hold you by the hand. I will point you as a light to the nations. And I appoint you as a covenant to the people. That word covenant, the definition that I like is it is a binding agreement between two parties where at least one of the parties is making a solemn oath.

To keep a promise that affects the other party. I'll say that again, because that's kind of wordy. A binding agreement. A covenant is a binding agreement between two parties where at least one of the parties is making a solemn oath to keep a promise that affects the other party. A covenant involves two parties, but both parties are represented in Jesus Christ.

He is God, 100% God, and he is 100% man. Both parties exist within one person. So if you want to enter into the new covenant, the only way you can enter into that covenant is by entering into a relationship with Jesus Christ. Because the covenant is bound in him. That's the only way you can enter into that covenant. You have to have a relationship with him.

Because he is the covenant. In Romans chapter 3, verse 19 to 20, it says, Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God. Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

The law was not given so that we could follow it and be better people and become good. The purpose of the law is to show us that we don't measure up, that we're sinners, that we can't do it. In Galatians chapter 3, verse 23 through 28, it says, But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ.

So that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free man. There is neither male or female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. The purpose of the law is to show you that you're a sinner. It's a tutor to point you to Christ.

Because until you know that you're a sinner, you will never see your need for a savior. So you have to know that first. Because you'll never come to Jesus if you don't realize it. That you're a sinner. But it says in verse 6, it says, For the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. In Romans chapter 8, verse 1 through 4, it says, Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did. Sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. Do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

It says in Romans 10, 4, For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. In verse 7 through 11, it says, But if the ministry of death in letters engraved on stone came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses, because of the glory of his face fading as it was, how shall the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory. For indeed, what had glory in the case has no glory on account of the glory that surpasses it.

For if that which fades away was with glory, much more of that which remains is in glory. Now what he's talking about is when Moses came down from the mountain, his face would glow, and he would have to wear this veil. And I want to read that passage from Exodus chapter 34 to you. I want you to understand kind of what happened then. It says, And it came about when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai,

and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses' hand. As he was coming down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with him. So when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone. And they were afraid to come near him. Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers in the congregation returned to him.

And Moses spoke to them. Afterward all the sons of Israel came near, and he commanded them to do everything that the Lord had spoken to him on the Mount Sinai. When Moses had finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take off the veil until he came out. And whenever he came out and spoke to the sons of Israel,

what he had been commanded, the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, then the skin of Moses' face shone. So Moses would replace the veil over his face until he went to speak with him. So Moses would come down from the mountain, and I want you to notice that while he spoke to the people, he left the veil off. He let them see the glow on his face. But after he got done speaking to them,

he would put the veil on after he spoke to them. Then when he went into the Lord's presence, he would take the veil off and come out and he would speak to them, but he wouldn't put the veil on until after he spoke to them. Why did he put the veil on? It wasn't to keep them from seeing the face glowing. He spoke to them with it off. But when he put the veil on,

it was to keep them from seeing that the glory was fading because the law was going to be replaced by a new covenant. And he didn't do that. And he didn't want them to see that the glow was fading. Now, that reminds me of a story. Christie and I went to Colorado Springs a few years ago, and we visited a church there called Springs Chapel. It's not associated with the Calvary Chapel ministry.

The pastor's name is Gary Wilkerson. His dad was David Wilkerson. I don't know how many of you remember him. He wrote The Cross and the Switchblade and some movies about the vision. And Gary was sharing about an experience that his dad had. His dad had gone up into the Appalachian Mountains and spent just weeks up there just wanting to be alone with the Lord.

He went up there. He was worshiping. He was in God's Word, meditating on the Word, praying, just spending time being as close to the Lord as he could. He stayed up there for several weeks. And one of the things he wanted to see happen was he wanted to be able to come down from that mountain like Moses did, and he wanted his face to glow. He wanted people to see that he had been spending time with the Lord.

And he came down from the mountain, and they went to have breakfast at a little breakfast restaurant. And he noticed the waitress in the restaurant just kept staring at him. And he goes, She can see it. She can see that glow on my face. And he was getting all excited, and they finished eating their breakfast. They were getting ready to leave, and the waitress walked up to him and said,

Sir, I want to apologize for staring at you the whole time you were eating. You were eating your breakfast. But aren't you Hugh Hefner? Now, for those of you who don't know who Hugh Hefner is, God bless you. But the Old Testament covenant reveals God's righteousness, but the New Testament covenant of grace does what the Old Testament couldn't do. In Hebrews 10, verse 11 and 18, it says,

Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But he, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until his enemies be made a footstool for his feet. For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us.

For after saying, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord, I will put my law upon their heart and on their minds I will write them. He then says, And their sins and their deeds, lawless deeds, I will remember no more. Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. The forgiveness that we have is a once in time for all thing is done.

We will never measure up and we will never have any greater salvation than we have right now. The Jews are still living under the Old Testament law. In verse 12 it says, Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech and are not as Moses, who used to put a veil over his face, that the sons of Israel might not look intently at the end of what was fading away. But their minds were hardened, for until this very day at the reading of the Old Covenant, the same veil remains unlifted because it is removed in Christ.

But to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart. But whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. The Jews still live under the Old Testament covenant. They are still waiting for this new covenant to come because they don't accept Jesus as the Messiah. We as Christians, Paul says in Romans, we make the Jews jealous because we say that we have already entered into that new covenant.

The one that they're waiting to enter into, we've already entered into it. And we've already experienced what they're waiting to experience. And Paul says we make the Jews jealous because of that. In chapter 4 it tells us that not only are the Jews under a veil, but the Gentiles are too. It says in verse 3, And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,

in whose case the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. The Gentiles don't have any hope. They don't have anything to hold on to. And part of it isn't just that Satan blinds their minds. Part of it is because of the sin nature that they have.

It says in 1st, excuse me, not in 1st John, but in John chapter 3, verse 19, this is the judgment that the light has come into the world and men love the darkness rather than the light for their deeds are evil. In John chapter 1 it says in verse 12 and 13, but as many as received him to them, he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, you can't inherit your salvation from somebody else, nor are the will of the flesh, you can't just will yourself to become a Christian, nor are the will of man, somebody else can't will it for you, but it has to be a work of God in you. It has to be a work of God in your life. That is the only way that you can get saved.

I lost my train of thought. All of us have a free will. And the problem though is because we have a sin nature, our free will is tainted by that sin nature. So our free will leans towards sin. We can never just will ourselves to be saved because of the fact that we are naturally prepared and prone to lean towards sin in the other direction. And in John 6, verse four, it says,

no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him. Salvation is a work of God. It can only happen as you allow him to draw you unto himself. That's the only way it can take place. In verse 17, it says, now the Lord is the spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Moses had the liberty to take the veil off in the presence of the Lord.

And as believers today, we don't have to wear a veil because of the work of the Holy Spirit is taking place in our lives all the time. We have the Holy Spirit with us. We're in the presence of God all the time. We don't have to wear a veil. And the putting on and the taking off the veil that Moses did, it's kind of like at the roller coaster ride I see in Christians today.

Because we'll go along and we think we're doing pretty good. And pretty soon we're trying to live the Christian life in our own strength and we realize we can't. And then we fall off and we stumble and we mess up. And then we realize it's only as we turn to God and allow him to do a work in our lives that we start depending on him again. And then we start doing good

and then we try to take it over and do it ourselves. And then it doesn't work. And we end up on this roller coaster ride. And God doesn't want us to be fake. He wants us to be real. And he wants us to be real all the time with him. Moses took the veil off into the presence of God. He was real with God. And you got issues in your life that maybe you think you can hide from God,

but you can't. He sees everything about your life. But a lot of times we put the veil on in front of other people because we want people to think that everything's going okay. But you know what? We all blow it. Every one of us mess up. I don't care how long you've been a believer. You're as dependent. I was dependent on the blood of Christ today as I was when I first got saved.

I got saved when I was 16. And I can guarantee you that I have sinned more since I've been a Christian than I ever did before I was a Christian. I don't have it together. It's only because of the blood of Christ that I'm saved. It's only by the Holy Spirit that I'm able to do any kind of ministry to anybody. The veil represents trying to measure up to live the Christian life in the flesh.

And that is what produces the roller coaster life in the Christian life. In verse 18 it says, But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed in the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord the Spirit. We are being transformed as we spend time beholding. As you spend time with the Lord, that is when you're going to grow.

You can't grow by doing things for him. You have to spend time with him and just allow him to work through you. The best way for you to serve the Lord is to allow yourself just to spend time in fellowship with him and allow whatever you do to grow out of that fellowship with him. You need to have that time with him. Spend in his word to pray and just to sit quietly

and not say anything. Just let God speak to you. Just to learn to just be in his presence. We're all like, we're all supposed to be like moons and reflect the sun. We don't, we don't have any, you know, and I'm not talking about like David, Wilkerson. I'm not talking about trying to come down off the mountain with a glow on our face, but we're supposed to allow Christ

to be reflected in our lives. And we can do that best when we're real, not only with him, but with each other and with the people that don't know Christ. You know, I used to, there's a tendency for us as believers to talk to one way to other believers. And then when we get with non-believers, we talk a different way. But if we talked with non-believers, with the unbelievers,

the same way that we talk with believers, they would listen to us because we're being real with them. And they're looking for something real in their lives. And we have it. And they can't see it if we're wearing a veil. We've got to take the veil off. We've got to allow the Holy Spirit to work through our lives. We've got to allow ourselves to show people that we have been changed

by the grace of God. In 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 16 through 18, it says, therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed by day by day. Most of us here know what I'm talking about. My shoulders hurt, my knees hurts, my back hurts. Things are breaking down as I get older. The outer man is decaying.

But my inner man is being renewed day by day because I spend time with the Lord. And as you spend time with him, he renews you. For a momentary light affliction is produced for us in an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. While you look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal,

but the things which are not seen are eternal. The life that we're living here is temporary. Pastor Rick up in Olathe just passed away. My brother just passed away about a week ago or so. We all know people that have passed away. And this life isn't forever. This is it. We're just passing through. And we need to have our focus on the eternal things because everything around us is going to pass away.

It's not going to last. And we need to keep our focus on the things that are important. Now today is Communion Sunday and I'm going to let the kids, ushers get the kids kind of ready to come in here and stuff. But while they're doing that right now, I would like to offer a chance for those of you here who don't know Christ to pray the sinner's prayer. And what I'm going to do is

I'm going to pray the sinner's prayer up here. And communion is meant for believers to take. And if you don't know Christ, I still want you to be able to take that. And a lot of people that have been raised in the church think that they're Christians because they identify with the Christian culture. We live in a culture that is identified as Christian. And there's been a lot of articles published lately

how a lot of Christians don't believe that the Holy Spirit exists. And that's probably because they're only cultural Christians. They've never actually come into a relationship with Christ. Because if you come into a relationship with Christ, the Holy Spirit bears witness with your spirit that you're a child of God. And so you know that the Holy Spirit exists.

The Holy Spirit is alive and well. He hasn't disappeared. He's not just a story figment. He's real. And He wants to do things in your life. And if you don't know Christ, I'm going to pray the sinner prayer. And you can pray the same thing or something similar. But it's between you and God. And you just simply speak that to God. And He will answer that prayer.

And then when you go to take communion today, it will be a new experience for you because you will be taking it as a believer. And afterwards, if you do accept Christ and you'd like to talk to me or somebody around here, just let us know. And we'll be glad to hook you up with some stuff. So let's pray. Lord, I have messed up. I don't have it together. I know that I'm a sinner.

I can't do it on my own. Father, You sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross for my sins. And I believe that He rose from the dead so that I could have new life. I ask You right now to send Jesus Christ into my life to be my Savior. To be my Lord. I thank You for forgiving me. I thank You for accepting me. I thank You for loving me enough to shed Your blood on the cross for me.

Because You didn't have to. I receive You right now into my life. And I take You at Your word. And I ask all this in the precious name of Jesus. Amen. Alright, the worshipers want to come on up. The kids are out there. You're welcome to come in. I don't know if they're out there or not. They're not quite ready, but they're coming. Get a Kleenex. Give us clean hands.

Give us pure hearts. Let us not lift our souls. Give us clean hands. Let us not lift our souls. To be a generation that sings. That seeks Your face. Oh God of Jacob. Oh God let us be a generation that sings. That seeks Your face. Oh God of Jacob. Make us humble. Cast down our... Give us clean hands. Give us pure hearts. Let us not lift our souls. To be a generation that sings.

Give us clean hands. Give us pure hearts. Let us not lift our souls. To be a generation that sings. That seeks Your face. That seeks Your face. Give us clean hands. Give us pure hearts. Let us not lift our souls. To be a generation that sings. That seeks Your face. A generation that sings. That seeks Your face. Give us clean hands. Give us pure hearts. Let us not lift our souls.

Give us clean hands. Give us pure hearts. Let us not lift our souls. Give us clean hands. Give us pure hearts. A generation that sings. That seeks Your face. A generation that sings. That seeks Your face. Give us clean hands. Give us pure hearts. Let us not lift our souls. That seeks your face Oh God A generation that seeks That seeks your face 1 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 23 through 24 says

For I received from the Lord That which I also delivered to you That the Lord Jesus in the night In which he was betrayed took bread And when he had given thanks He broke it and said This is my body which is for you Do this in remembrance of me Let's take the bread It goes on to say In the same way he took the cup After the supper saying This cup is the new covenant in my blood Do this as often as you drink it In remembrance of me For as often as you eat this bread And drink the cup You proclaim the Lord's death Until he comes Let's take the cup 1 Corinthians 1.18 says For the word of the cross Is foolishness to those who are perishing But to us who are being saved It is the power of God Lord I just ask that you help us to go out And to realize

That you have empowered us With your forgiveness A sacrifice that was made once for all times We thank you for that sacrifice that was made We thank you for the Holy Spirit that you have given us We ask that as we leave That you will help us to be yielded to you To just whatever we Wherever our life is at Right now that we would just be yielded to you With bells taken off of our face That we would be real with you And real with the people around us So that they can have a chance At the grace of God that we have We just thank you and give you the praise Lord And be with us this week In Jesus name, Amen God bless