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Speaker 5: Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for downloading our podcast.
Speaker 5: We enjoy spending this time with you. I hope you'll
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Speaker 5: We appreciate your support. It helps keep the ministry going.
Speaker 4: Enjoy the message now.
Speaker 5: God bless you and thanks so much for letting us
Speaker 5: come into your homes. And if you're ever in our area,
Speaker 5: please stop by and be a part of one of
Speaker 5: our services.
Speaker 6: I promise you we'll make you feel right at home.
Speaker 5: But thanks so much for tuning in, and thank you
Speaker 5: again for coming out today. And I like to start
Speaker 5: with something funny. And I heard about this husband and wife.
Speaker 6: They had been.
Speaker 5: Arguing and now they were giving each other the silent treatment.
Speaker 5: The man had to get up early and catch a
Speaker 5: flight the next day, and he needed his.
Speaker 6: Wife to wake him up.
Speaker 5: Not wanting to break the silence, he left a note
Speaker 5: on her side of the bed. It said, please wake
Speaker 5: me up at five am. The next morning, he got
Speaker 5: up at eight o'clock missed his flight. He was so
Speaker 5: upset he went in to find out why she didn't
Speaker 5: wake him up.
Speaker 6: There was a note on his side of the bed.
Speaker 6: He opened it. It read, wake up, it's five. Hold
Speaker 6: up your Bible. Say it like you mean it. This
Speaker 6: is my Bible. I am what it says. I am.
Speaker 6: I have what it says I have. I can do
Speaker 6: what it says I can do. Today I will be
Speaker 6: talkt the word of God.
Speaker 5: I boldly confess my mind is alert, my heart is receptive.
Speaker 5: I will never be the same. In Jesus' name, God
Speaker 5: bless you.
Speaker 6: I want to talk to you today about serving one another.
Speaker 5: Jesus said, if you want to be great in the Kingdom,
Speaker 5: if you want to live a blessed life, it's very simple.
Speaker 6: You have to serve other people.
Speaker 5: He wasn't talking about an event that takes place every
Speaker 5: once in a while.
Speaker 6: He was talking about a lifestyle.
Speaker 5: Where you live to help others. You're always looking for
Speaker 5: ways to serve. You're helping a friend, volunteering at the hospital,
Speaker 5: taking care of a relative. It's not something you force
Speaker 5: yourself to do. It becomes a part of who you are.
Speaker 5: You've developed that attitude of serving, that's when you'll have
Speaker 5: true happiness, true fulfillment.
Speaker 6: Not living to get, but living to give.
Speaker 5: And this is the reason a lot of people are unhappy.
Speaker 5: They're only focused on themselves, my dreams, my goals, my problems.
Speaker 6: That's going to limit you. You were created to give.
Speaker 5: God puts people in our path on purpose so we
Speaker 5: can be a blessing to them.
Speaker 6: Every morning, we should ask God, show me my assignment today.
Speaker 6: Help me to see the people that you want me
Speaker 6: to be good to.
Speaker 5: My friend, Johnny, I've known practically my whole life for
Speaker 5: over forty years. He's always serving other people, running somebody
Speaker 5: to the airport, taking a friend to dinner helping a
Speaker 5: relative with their project. When my dad was on dialysis
Speaker 5: and one of the family members couldn't take him, we'd
Speaker 5: always ask Johnny.
Speaker 6: We knew he would gladly do it.
Speaker 5: One time I called him on a hot Saturday afternoon.
Speaker 5: He answered, and it was very noisy in the background.
Speaker 5: Could tell a lot was going on, said Johnny, where
Speaker 5: are you? He said, I'm on top of a house.
Speaker 5: My friend's next door neighbor is an elderly woman, and
Speaker 5: we promised we would reroop her house this weekend.
Speaker 6: He didn't even know the lady.
Speaker 5: It was his next door neighbor's friend. But he's developed
Speaker 5: this habit to serve one another. When you serve others,
Speaker 5: you are serving God. When you do it for them,
Speaker 5: you're doing it for him. Jesus said, if you give
Speaker 5: a cup of cold water to someone in need, you
Speaker 5: will surely be rewarded. Every time you serve, God sees it.
Speaker 5: Every time you help others. You go out of your
Speaker 5: way to pick up that friend, you come early to
Speaker 5: sing in the choir, you stay late to train that
Speaker 5: co worker.
Speaker 6: God is keeping the records.
Speaker 5: Nothing goes unnoticed, he says, you will surely be rewarded.
Speaker 6: That word surely means you can count on it. Have
Speaker 6: no doubt it will happen. Now here's the key.
Speaker 5: Don't look for people to pay you back. People may
Speaker 5: not say thank you. You may not get the credit
Speaker 5: you deserve. Nobody may be giving you an applause. Let
Speaker 5: me assure you, when you.
Speaker 6: Serve others, there is an applause for you. In Heaven.
Speaker 5: Almighty God sees your sacrifice. You don't need people cheering
Speaker 5: you on. You don't need somebody clapping for you. You're not
Speaker 5: doing it for people. You're doing it for God. He's
Speaker 5: the one that matters. He sees every act of kindness.
Speaker 5: He sees you volunteering at the hospital. He sees you
Speaker 5: working in the nursery each week. He sees you taking
Speaker 5: your neighbor to their doctor's appointment on your day off.
Speaker 5: When you serve others, God promises you will be great
Speaker 5: in the kingdom. JJ Moses, right here on the front row,
Speaker 5: was a star football player in college. He was draft
Speaker 5: by the Houston Texans and played for them for five seasons.
Speaker 5: JJ was the kickoff.
Speaker 6: And punk returner. He's as fast as lightning, so quick
Speaker 6: when he'd get the ball.
Speaker 5: He would electrify the crowd darting here, and they're amazing
Speaker 5: to watch.
Speaker 6: In the football world.
Speaker 5: He was at the pinnacle of success career wise, at
Speaker 5: the very top, playing in the National Football League.
Speaker 6: Every week in front of millions of people.
Speaker 5: But during the off season or whenever he didn't have
Speaker 5: a game, do you know where he was every Saturday night.
Speaker 5: Not at home with his feet up, not out enjoying
Speaker 5: his celebrity. He was right over here, ushering in this section,
Speaker 5: welcoming to visitors, seating people, passing the offering plates. Many
Speaker 5: people they didn't know he was a star professional football player.
Speaker 6: In the stadium, all the lights were on him.
Speaker 5: Everybody wanted to get a picture, everybody tried to get
Speaker 5: an autograph.
Speaker 6: He could have let that go to his head.
Speaker 5: Thought, I'm not gonna usher anymore. I'm big time. I'm
Speaker 5: JJ Moses, I'm the original JJ, before JJ Watt I
Speaker 5: was here. I don't want to wait on anybody. I
Speaker 5: want people to wait on me.
Speaker 6: No, still, every Saturday night he's ushering, week after week.
Speaker 5: He told me, Joel, my greatest honor was not playing
Speaker 5: in front of eighty thousand people in the stadium each
Speaker 5: week My greatest honor is to volunteer at Lakewood each
Speaker 5: Saturday night.
Speaker 6: What am I saying?
Speaker 5: You're never too important to serve, never too big, never
Speaker 5: too influential. I know a man that was worth nine
Speaker 5: billion dollars with the B He's in heaven now. He
Speaker 5: started off with nothing, got into oil business, and obviously
Speaker 5: made it very, very big. He loved God. He's a
Speaker 5: good man, always helping others. He owned, among other things things,
Speaker 5: a big retreat center where couples could go and.
Speaker 6: Spend the weekend and be refreshed. One day, this couple
Speaker 6: came to the front desk.
Speaker 5: The receptionist had stepped away, and it just so happened
Speaker 5: he was there. He was an older gentleman, very kind,
Speaker 5: very friendly. So he checked them in, gave them their key.
Speaker 5: Then he picked up their.
Speaker 6: Suitcases and carried them to their room.
Speaker 5: He got them all set up, laid out their bags,
Speaker 5: even got them some ice. When he was about to leave,
Speaker 5: the lady reached in her purse and gave him a.
Speaker 6: Five dollars tip. She thought he was the bellman.
Speaker 5: And I love the fact that he wasn't too important
Speaker 5: to serve.
Speaker 6: He could have said, excuse me, do you know who
Speaker 6: I am. I own all this.
Speaker 5: I don't need you five dollars. Now here's what I've learned.
Speaker 5: It takes a big person to do something small. It
Speaker 5: takes humility to say I don't have to do this.
Speaker 6: It's not required of me. Nobody will fault me if
Speaker 6: I don't do it.
Speaker 5: But I in order to serve God, I need to
Speaker 5: serve other people.
Speaker 6: And if you want to have a.
Speaker 5: Great life, it doesn't just come from success, having a
Speaker 5: bigger house, more accomplishments.
Speaker 6: That's all great.
Speaker 5: God wants you to be blessed, But if you're going
Speaker 5: to be truly fulfilled, you have to develop this attitude
Speaker 5: of serving one another. You were created to make somebody
Speaker 5: else's life better. Somebody needs what you have. Somebody needs
Speaker 5: your smile. They need your love, your encouragement, your gifts.
Speaker 5: When you serve others, you will feel a satisfaction that.
Speaker 6: Money cannot buy.
Speaker 5: There will be a joy, a peace of fulfillment that
Speaker 5: only God can give. One time, Jesus and his disciples
Speaker 5: had traveled a great distance to the city of Samerian.
Speaker 5: They were very tired and hungry. Jesus sent the disciples
Speaker 5: into town to get some food. While he waited by
Speaker 5: a well, he met a woman, told her about her future,
Speaker 5: and gave her a new beginning. In a few hours,
Speaker 5: the disciples came back with the food, but Jesus wasn't
Speaker 5: hungry anymore. He was sitting by the well, refreshed at peace.
Speaker 5: They offered him something to eat, but he wouldn't take it.
Speaker 5: He said, I have food that you know nothing about. Well,
Speaker 5: they thought maybe somebody came and gave him something to
Speaker 5: eat while they were away. They started talking about it.
Speaker 5: He was hungry a little while ago, and now he's not.
Speaker 6: He was tired, but now he looks so refreshed. How
Speaker 6: could that be?
Speaker 5: And Jesus overheard them discussing it. He told them the secret.
Speaker 6: He said in John.
Speaker 5: Four, My food comes from doing the will of Him
Speaker 5: who sent me to accomplish his work. He was saying,
Speaker 5: I get fed by doing what God asked me to do.
Speaker 5: My nourishment comes from helping people. My food, my strength,
Speaker 5: my peace, my joy, my satisfaction, it comes when I
Speaker 5: serve others. Sometimes you can work all day and naturally
Speaker 5: at the end you're kind of tired. But there are
Speaker 5: times when you serve others you get up early.
Speaker 6: To help that coworker.
Speaker 5: You swing by the hospital and pray for that friend.
Speaker 5: You mow your neighbor's lawn after work. You should be
Speaker 5: tired and run down, but you leave re energized, You
Speaker 5: leave stronger, you leave refreshed. Why is that Because when
Speaker 5: you do the will of your father, it doesn't drain you.
Speaker 6: It replenishes you.
Speaker 5: Many of you today you serve. You volunteer here at Lakewood.
Speaker 5: Maybe in your community you get up early and go
Speaker 5: to church on your day off, to work in the
Speaker 5: children's ministry, to sing in the choir, to help others.
Speaker 5: Maybe you go clean neighborhoods on Saturday morning with our
Speaker 5: community outreach. Perhaps you spend an afternoon at the prison
Speaker 5: encouraging the inmates.
Speaker 6: You'd think you'd be tired, run down.
Speaker 5: Man, I gotta go home and rest. I've been volunteering
Speaker 5: all day. You know, just like with Jesus, when you
Speaker 5: do what he asks you to do, you're being fed.
Speaker 5: Strength comes, energy comes, joy comes, peace comes. You should
Speaker 5: be run down, but when you serve others, God recharges,
Speaker 5: re energizes, refreshes. You don't leave down, You leave up.
Speaker 5: You don't leave low, you leave high. God pays you back.
Speaker 5: I know every time I leave this auditorium after a service,
Speaker 5: I always leave stronger than I was before.
Speaker 6: Why is that?
Speaker 5: Because when you serve others, when you make somebody else's
Speaker 5: life better, when you lift people, when you help heal
Speaker 5: those that are hurting, not only are they being blessed,
Speaker 5: but you're being blessed.
Speaker 6: You're being refueled. You're getting filled back up.
Speaker 5: Now, if you never have any energy, no joy, no strength,
Speaker 5: one reason not the only one. One reason may be
Speaker 5: because you're not doing anything for anybody else. You got
Speaker 5: to get your mind off of yourself. Go to the
Speaker 5: senior's home and cheer somebody up. Bake your neighbor a cake,
Speaker 5: coach the little league team. When you lift others, God.
Speaker 6: Will always lift you.
Speaker 5: And this should be something we do, not every once
Speaker 5: in a while if we have some extra time. No,
Speaker 5: this should be a lifestyle where it's a part of
Speaker 5: our nature.
Speaker 6: We're always looking for ways to be a blessing.
Speaker 5: And it doesn't have to be something big. It can
Speaker 5: be something small. Simple words of encouragement can brighten somebody's day.
Speaker 5: One time, Victoria was walking through the hallway after service.
Speaker 5: We had just dismissed, and there were hundreds of people
Speaker 5: in the corridor. The Victoria passed a young lady. She
Speaker 5: stopped her, looked her in the eyes, and said, you
Speaker 5: are so beautiful. Ten second conversation, No big deal. They
Speaker 5: both went on their ways. A couple of weeks later,
Speaker 5: the young lady told me how that was a turning
Speaker 5: point in her life. She had just gone through an
Speaker 5: abusive relationship, and she felt so unattractive, so bad about herself,
Speaker 5: so beaten down by life.
Speaker 6: She said, when Victoria said those.
Speaker 5: Words, you are so beautiful, it was like a chain
Speaker 5: was broken off of my mind. Something came back to
Speaker 5: life on the inside.
Speaker 6: The scripture says.
Speaker 5: Kind words work wonders all through the day. We can
Speaker 5: serve God by speaking kind words, giving a compliment, giving encouragement. Hey,
Speaker 5: I love you, Hey, you look beautiful. I believe in you.
Speaker 5: I'm praying for you. Simple things can make a big difference.
Speaker 5: And really this should start in our homes.
Speaker 6: It's great to serve.
Speaker 5: People when you're out in public, that's important, but make
Speaker 5: sure you serve your own family husbands.
Speaker 6: Serve your wife.
Speaker 5: Honey, I'm going into the kitchen, can I bring you
Speaker 5: anything back?
Speaker 6: Or let me run get your car filled up with
Speaker 6: gas so you don't have to tomorrow.
Speaker 5: Let me help the kids do the homework. You take
Speaker 5: a night off, be a blessing to your spouse. I'm
Speaker 5: convinced if we would have this servant's mentality, more of
Speaker 5: our marriages would stay together.
Speaker 6: Now.
Speaker 5: I know husbands that they expect their wife to do
Speaker 5: everything for them.
Speaker 6: I'm not gonna serve her. I want her to serve me.
Speaker 5: Cook clean, bring me my food, make sure my clothes,
Speaker 5: or walk, keep this house straightened up.
Speaker 6: That's not a wife, that's a maid.
Speaker 5: You might as well call a cleaning service. You can
Speaker 5: hire somebody to do that. If you want a wife,
Speaker 5: if you want a friend, a lover, somebody to make
Speaker 5: your life great, you've got to serve that woman.
Speaker 6: Make her feel special, bring her breakfast in.
Speaker 5: Bed, pick up your own stinky clothes, help with the children.
Speaker 5: It's not a dictatorship, it's a partnership.
Speaker 6: Well, Joe, the Bible says the wife. I have a
Speaker 6: feeling there's more ladies here than men. But Joel, the
Speaker 6: Bible says, the wife is to submit to her husband,
Speaker 6: the only scripture. A lot of men know.
Speaker 5: Yes, but It also says the husband is to love
Speaker 5: his wife like Christ loved the church. Jesus modeled a
Speaker 5: servant's attitude. He had all the power in the world,
Speaker 5: the most influential person that ever lived, Yet he bowed
Speaker 5: down and washed his disciples feet. He could have hired
Speaker 5: somebody to do it. He could have called an angel
Speaker 5: down from heaven and said, hey, wash their feet.
Speaker 6: I don't feel like it. They stink today.
Speaker 5: Matthew's got some fungus on his toes.
Speaker 6: Peter needs some motor eaters.
Speaker 5: No, he willingly bowed down, pulled out his towel, washed
Speaker 5: their feet one by one. He did this as an
Speaker 5: example so we would know we're never too important to
Speaker 5: be good to people. You're never too high to where
Speaker 5: you can't bow down low and serve somebody else. The
Speaker 5: more humility you walk in, the more you serve others,
Speaker 5: the higher.
Speaker 6: God can take you and some of you.
Speaker 5: If you'd start serving your wife, serving your husband, you'd
Speaker 5: see that marriage go to a new level.
Speaker 6: I heard about this guy.
Speaker 5: He was bragging to all of his buddies about how
Speaker 5: he was the head of his house. He said, yeah,
Speaker 5: I run things around my house. About that time, his
Speaker 5: wife walked up. He said, I run the vacuum, I
Speaker 5: run the dishwasher. Victoria and I made an agreement when
Speaker 5: we got married that I would make all the major decisions.
Speaker 5: She would make all the minor decisions. It's funny, in
Speaker 5: twenty six years of marriage, there's never been a major decision.
Speaker 5: Let me ask you, who are you serving? Who are
Speaker 5: you lifting up? Who are you being good? To be
Speaker 5: on the lookout for ways that you can be a blessing.
Speaker 6: God puts people in our path so we can brighten
Speaker 6: their day.
Speaker 5: A few months ago I was able to baptize nearly
Speaker 5: eight hundred people on a Saturday.
Speaker 6: There was an.
Speaker 5: Older gentleman there that he had had a stroke and
Speaker 5: he didn't have any kind of mobility, couldn't walk, and
Speaker 5: they rolled him in in a wheelchair. The young man
Speaker 5: that was pushing him, he looked to be about my age,
Speaker 5: and you could tell he really cared about this man.
Speaker 5: He went to great links to make sure he was okay.
Speaker 5: And to get into baptistry you have to walk up
Speaker 5: some stairs and then walk back down into the water,
Speaker 5: and some of the workers lifted up the older gentleman.
Speaker 5: That young man he put one arm under his knees,
Speaker 5: one arm under his back, and he carried him into
Speaker 5: the baptistry waters.
Speaker 6: Was a very moving scene.
Speaker 5: Seeing this older man crippled, couldn't walk, yet he was
Speaker 5: so determined he wanted to be baptized, and seeing the
Speaker 5: young man carry.
Speaker 6: Him down into the waters.
Speaker 5: After we got him baptized, we put him back in
Speaker 5: the wheelchair and I said to the young man, is
Speaker 5: that your father?
Speaker 6: He shook his head no. I said, was he your relative?
Speaker 6: Your uncle? Who is this?
Speaker 5: He told how he was a random man that he
Speaker 5: sat by one Sunday at Lakewood. Never met him before,
Speaker 5: but it was the Sunday that I announced that I
Speaker 5: would be baptizing people in water. The older man turned
Speaker 5: to him and just in passing, said, wow, I wish
Speaker 5: I could be baptized. I guess I waited too long.
Speaker 5: I can't walk anymore, so I guess I missed my chance.
Speaker 5: The young man told him that he would help him
Speaker 5: to get baptized, and that older man said, I don't
Speaker 5: have a ride, and I don't have any family here,
Speaker 5: and I can't walk.
Speaker 6: He said, don't worry about it. I'm gonna take care
Speaker 6: of you. He went and picked him.
Speaker 5: Up got him to the fourth floor, had him baptized.
Speaker 5: He had only met the man one time before. My
Speaker 5: prayer is, God, help us to have that same compassion.
Speaker 5: Help us to not be so busy, so preoccupied with
Speaker 5: our own affairs, that we can't serve somebody else. God
Speaker 5: is asking us today, will you carry someone, Maybe not physically,
Speaker 5: but will you help lighten their load? Will you help
Speaker 5: make their dreams come to pass? Will you go out
Speaker 5: of your way to be a blessing to them? Helping
Speaker 5: less fortunate people is the closest thing to the heart
Speaker 5: of God. I will never forget that image of that
Speaker 5: young man carrying that crippled man into the baptistry for
Speaker 5: as long as I lived. I could understand it if
Speaker 5: it was his father. It would make sense to me
Speaker 5: if it was a relative, a long time friend. But
Speaker 5: he did it for a total stranger. He gave up
Speaker 5: his Saturday. He could have been out goofing off on
Speaker 5: his day off, down at the beach, working out, hanging
Speaker 5: with friends. Nothing wrong with that. But his attitude was,
Speaker 5: I have an assignment. There's somebody God put in my path.
Speaker 6: On purpose, so I can serve somebody. I can brighten
Speaker 6: their day.
Speaker 5: Somebody I can make a difference in their life. Jesus said,
Speaker 5: when you do it to the least of these, you're
Speaker 5: doing it under me.
Speaker 6: I love the fact that this young man, he wasn't.
Speaker 5: Looking for any recognition. He wasn't making some big announcement.
Speaker 5: Look at me, everybody, I'm doing a good deed. He
Speaker 5: didn't have anybody cheering him on. He was quietly serving
Speaker 5: this other man. Nobody would have known about it if
Speaker 5: I hadn't have said something. Many of you, like him
Speaker 5: are constantly being good to people, going out of your
Speaker 5: way to be a blessing, making sacrifices nobody knows about.
Speaker 6: Let me tell you, God sees what you're doing. He
Speaker 6: sees your heart of compassion.
Speaker 5: Nobody may be clapping for you down here, but up there,
Speaker 5: all of Heaven is cheering you on.
Speaker 6: See.
Speaker 5: I realize I'm receiving some of my reward right now.
Speaker 5: People thank me, cheer for me, clap for me. I'm
Speaker 5: very grateful, I'm very flattered. But when nobody is clapping
Speaker 5: for you, when you're not being told thank you, you're
Speaker 5: not getting the recognition. Don't be discouraged and think that
Speaker 5: you're being overlooked. Your reward will be greater when people
Speaker 5: give you credit. That's part of your thank you, that's
Speaker 5: part of your reward. But when nobody's given you credit.
Speaker 5: The scripture says, what you do in sin, God will
Speaker 5: reward you in the open. And when it comes time
Speaker 5: for the rewards to be passed out, some of us
Speaker 5: that are in the front now are going to have
Speaker 5: to step back.
Speaker 6: And the people that.
Speaker 5: Were behind the scenes, the ones that volunteered year after
Speaker 5: year with no great applause, the ones like this young
Speaker 5: man that went to great sacrifices to make somebody else's
Speaker 5: dreams come to pass. The ones that have given time, energy,
Speaker 5: money that nobody knew about, those who are going to
Speaker 5: be the greater rewards. Not long ago, one of our
Speaker 5: ushers went to be with the Lord. He had volunteered
Speaker 5: here for nearly thirty years.
Speaker 6: As faithful as can be.
Speaker 5: He was an older gentleman, and he always dressed nice,
Speaker 5: had a pleasant smile, a quiet demeanor. I don't know
Speaker 5: that I ever spoke to him personally, but I remember
Speaker 5: seeing him month after month, service after service. You could
Speaker 5: count on him. My mother helped a fish at the funeral.
Speaker 5: One of his requests is that he would be buried
Speaker 5: wearing his Lakewood Usher's badge. And there he was in
Speaker 5: the casket in his finest suit, and on it was
Speaker 5: the badge that he had worn for nearly thirty years.
Speaker 6: He was so proud to be an Usher. He could
Speaker 6: have been buried with.
Speaker 5: Anything he wanted, but his greatest honor was serving other people.
Speaker 6: Don't you know?
Speaker 5: When he arrived in heaven there was an amazing welcoming ceremony.
Speaker 5: I can hear the angels sing, I can see people clapping,
Speaker 5: I can see the trumpets blowing. See there wasn't a
Speaker 5: lot of fanfare, not a lot of applause for his
Speaker 5: life of service and generosity here on the earth.
Speaker 6: But nothing goes unnoticed. You will be rewarded.
Speaker 5: The scripture tells how when Stephen went to Heaven, Jesus
Speaker 5: stood up to welcome him. Jesus is normally seated at
Speaker 5: the right hand of the Father, but I believe there
Speaker 5: are times like with this Usher when he arrived an
Speaker 5: unsung hero.
Speaker 6: There will be times when.
Speaker 5: Jesus says, you know what, this one deserves a standing ovation.
Speaker 6: He'll stand up to welcome you home. I heard about
Speaker 6: this older missionary couple.
Speaker 5: They had served over in Africa for more than sixty years,
Speaker 5: helping the less fortunate people, given their whole life and
Speaker 5: done so much good. Now they were returning home to
Speaker 5: New York City to finally retire. It just so happened
Speaker 5: they were booked on the same ship with President Teddy Roosevelt.
Speaker 5: He was returning home from one of his big hunting expeditions.
Speaker 5: When the ship pulled into the dock in New York,
Speaker 5: there was all this fanfare. Band was playing, The mayor
Speaker 5: and other dignitaries lined up, balloons going up in the air,
Speaker 5: confetti coming down. When the crowd saw President Roosevelt step
Speaker 5: off the boat, they begin to cheer, tens of thousand
Speaker 5: of them waving, cheering, trying to snap a picture. The
Speaker 5: missionary said to his wife, doesn't seem right. We've given
Speaker 5: our whole life to help other people, to give, to serve,
Speaker 5: to make a difference. He goes on a vacation and
Speaker 5: the whole world welcomes him home. Nobody even knows we're here.
Speaker 5: They got off the ship very discouraged. That night he
Speaker 5: was praying, said God, I don't understand it. He goes
Speaker 5: on vacation and comes home to the fanfare of the world,
Speaker 5: and we come home after a whole life of service,
Speaker 5: and nobody even says hello. Down in here, he heard God.
Speaker 6: Speak to him.
Speaker 5: He said, son, it's because you're not home yet.
Speaker 6: There will be a celebration. There will be a reward.
Speaker 5: You will hear a band playing like you've never heard before.
Speaker 5: It will be the angels. All of heaven will welcome
Speaker 5: you home. Many of you have been faithful, served, volunteered,
Speaker 5: be encouraged. Today God sees every act of kindness. Nothing
Speaker 5: goes unnoticed.
Speaker 6: You will be rewarded.
Speaker 5: Remember, when you do what God asks you to do,
Speaker 5: you're being fed. You're getting stronger, refreshed, reenergized. So be
Speaker 5: on the lookout this week for ways that you can
Speaker 5: be good to people. If you'll develop this lifestyle of serving,
Speaker 5: God says you will be great in the kingdom. Now
Speaker 5: I believe and declare, because you serve others, you're coming
Speaker 5: into your reward. You're coming into favor, coming into healing,
Speaker 5: coming into promotion, coming into breakthroughs.
Speaker 6: You're coming in.
Speaker 5: To new levels of God's goodness. In Jesus' name, if
Speaker 5: you receive it, can you say amen?
Speaker 6: Today?
Speaker 5: Well, we never like to close our broadcast without giving
Speaker 5: you an opportunity to make.
Speaker 6: Jesus the Lord of your life. Would you pray with me?
Speaker 5: Just say, Lord, Jesus, I'll repent of my sins. Come
Speaker 5: into my heart. I make you my Lord and savior. Friends,
Speaker 5: if you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got
Speaker 5: born again. Get in a good Bible based church. Keep
Speaker 5: God first place. He's going to take your places that
Speaker 5: you've never dreamed of.
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Speaker 8: More than ever be people are turning to the church
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