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Thank you very much. Amen. Let's start the second service. For our first song, let us grab our tagalog hymn as well. We're going to sing song number 132. Song number 132. Tagalog words written on a silent night, holy night. Song number 132. Song number 132. On the first, ready, sing. Tagalog words written on a silent night, holy night. Song number 132. On the first, ready, sing. Tagalog words written on a silent night, holy night. Tagalog words written on a silent night, holy night. Tagalog words written on a silent night, holy night. Tagalog words written on a silent night, holy night. Tagalog words written on a silent night, holy night. Tagalog words written on a silent night, holy night. Tagalog words written on a silent night, holy night. Tagalog words written on a silent night, holy night. Tagalog words written on a silent night, holy night. Tagalog words written on a silent night, holy night. Tagalog words written on a silent night, holy night. Tagalog words written on a silent night, holy night. Tagalog words written on a silent night, holy night. Tagalog words written on a silent night, holy night. Tagalog words written on a silent night, holy night. Amen. All right, good morning, everybody. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church and Merry Christmas. And we do have a record attendance here today. We have 83 people at church, so praise the Lord for that. And we finally get to change the numbers, like 76, 77, 75. I always ask, you know, Brother JR, how many? It's like 77. 76. But 83 today, so praise the Lord for that. And we have everybody put their names on the raffle drawing thing. At this time, I am going to randomly draw a number, and whatever I pick, if your name is by the number, then you win the prize. Now, I guessed ahead of time how many people would be here, and I made sure I had extra, so I have 120, right? I wasn't expecting 120, but you know, it's better to have extra. So here's the thing. There's like 37, you know, numbers here that are not there. So if I draw one of those, then I get to win, right? No, I'm just kidding. All right, we'll see. Let's see, random draw. I don't even know what my number is, but I'll close my eyes anyway. And we've got number 40. Do you have a name by 40? Sister Glassy, congratulations. There's the prize. Oh, Brother June, the 500 paces you gave me before the... You forgot to give it to me just after the service, right? But anyways, a few other quick announcements. First, let's count up any salvations from this past week. I forgot about that. Anybody in the back for salvations? Anything to report? Anybody? How about in this section here, any salvations to report? One. Anybody else? Four. Three. So eight more. Anybody else that I missed? All right, well, we do have two. All right, it's hard to tell with so many people. Anybody else? We got everyone? One. Okay, there we go. All right. You got to like jump, right? That way I can, you know, see you. No, I'm just kidding. But 11 extra salvations. Great job, everybody. And we do have soul winning today, but it's going to be very shortened. It's going to be near the building. Obviously, we have a lot of activities. There could be a lot of traffic on the way home for everybody. So we'll try to do shortened soul winning, but we're not going to cancel it. Other than that, we do have a soul winning marathon on Friday, which is Rizal Day. And starting next Sunday will be the first day of the new year. So we're going to be doing our Bible reading challenge in the month of January, which is to try to complete the entire New Testament in January. Now, that might sound very intimidating. You know, if you're new to our church, you haven't been here in previous years we've done this. But over half of our church, I believe, has completed this in previous years. And it definitely takes a lot of time and diligence. But we're going to give you a chart next Sunday that just kind of gives you what you need to read each day. And you can just kind of check it off. And, you know, if you set aside, you know, 45 minutes a day, then it's definitely doable. And so it's a good thing to start the new year with Bible reading. So, anyways, I believe that's the pronouncements. We'll have Brother Shawn lead us in another song. For our next song, we're going to sing an English song. Let's write the song number 162. Song number 162. Song number 162. To God be the glory. To God be the glory. On the first, ready, sing. To God be the glory. We thank Thee, our God. So high be the world that we gave us this song. Oh, heal, let us life an atonement for sin. And, oh, let the life we had only going. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. God, hear, hear His voice. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Let the people rejoice. Oh, come to the Father, through Jesus the Son. And give Him the glory great with sea and floor. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. You you Amen for scripture reading please open your bibles to the book of acts acts chapter 20 Acts chapter 20 Acts chapter 20 and for this reading we will only read from verses 32 down to verse 38 Acts chapter 20 verse 32 Please say man if you're there Amen Acts chapter 20 verses 32 and Now brethren I commend you to God and to the word of his grace Which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all of them which are sanctified I've coveted no man's silver or gold or apparel Yea, ye ourselves know that these hands administered into my necessities and to them that were with me I've showed you all things How that so laboring you ought to support the weak and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus How he said it is more blessed to give than to receive And when he had thus spoken he kneeled down and prayed with them all And they all wept sore and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake That they should see his face no more and they accompanied him onto the ship Bless through you of God's Word. Let us pray Lord God in heaven. We thank you Lord for his steps given to us I pray that you would please bless us Lord on our Christmas Christmas Sunday and I pray that you would please keep us safe and give us good weather for our soul winning hour fellowship later on We love you in Jesus name we pray. Amen All Right, we're here in Acts chapter 20 and the second sermon is going to be a lot shorter than the first sermon and You know, I want you to look at Acts 20 verse 35 very famous verse especially around the Christmas holiday Where it says in Acts 20 verse 35 I've showed you all things how that so laboring you ought to support the weak and Remember the words of the Lord Jesus how he said it is more blessed to give than to receive It is more blessed to give than to receive and you know what? Sometimes you see that even in the wicked world that we live in they often will quote from the Bible And this is a quote from the Bible. It is more blessed to give than to receive now It's interesting because Paul says he says to remember the words of the Lord Jesus how he said now If you actually read your Bible from Genesis to Revelation, you're never actually gonna say see Jesus saying these words Which is why we're looking at Acts 20 verse 35 now I do believe that he said these words during his life because obviously he said a lot of things that were not recorded But you know even more so than just him saying this he lived his life with this concept It's more blessed to give than to receive and that's what we're gonna look at here in this sermon go to Psalm 41 Psalm 41 Psalm 41 Psalm 41 Now the most common way this is applied which is a good way is Financially, you know you hear this a lot of times around the holidays. We're basically giving gifts It's more blessed to give than to receive associated with Christmas giving gifts Anyway, this is true financially. It is more blessed to give than to receive. Here's what it says in Psalm 41 verse 1 Blessed is he That considerth the poor the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble Now for a person to consider the poor and give money to someone who's less fortunate That's a huge blessing to them But it also says here in Psalm 41 that blessed is he that considerth the poor and from the quote it is more blessed to give Than to receive that would be like giving to the poor and the Bible is saying blessed is he that Considerth the poor helping somebody else out financially that maybe doesn't have as much as you Have. Go to Proverbs 11. Proverbs 11 Proverbs 11 Now I do believe you got to be very careful with people that are asking you for money because there's a lot of scam Artists out there, but at the same time, you know it probably all of us in this room, you know You've gone somewhere before and then you know There's a young child that obviously doesn't have a lot financially and you maybe you give them a couple pesos You know has changed from something and you what it gives you a good feeling doesn't it? Right to help somebody else out that you know, maybe has less than you and you know It might not be a huge thing, you know giving five pesos or six pesos But you know it puts you in a good mood and you realize life is not just about receiving everything that you can Actually being a blessing to other people be a blessing to you It's gonna make you feel better and it's gonna be a big blessing. Proverbs 11 verse 25 The liberal soul shall be made fat and he that watereth shall be watered also himself. Now in America when you think of politics you think of Republicans and Democrats and another way to say that is conservatives and liberals So liberal is the term for like Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, people like that that are pro-abortion Pro-LGBT and they're called liberal now Biblically speaking the word liberal is a good word, right? God that giveth all men liberally and upbraideth not you know Just kind of giving and here's the thing the actual word liberal is like when you give something you have To help somebody else out now the way they use it in America with politics The liberals are not giving something they have they take money from somebody and give to somebody else But they don't take money from themselves. It's like I'm very liberal I'll take money from anybody right and give it to somebody else But the actual word in the Bible is when you are willing to give of what you have To help somebody else out and the Bible says he that watereth shall be watered also himself now look We're not a health wealth and prosperity gospel preaching church We do not teach that you know what if you give your you know You sow your 10,000 peso tithe God's gonna give you a hundred thousand within a week We don't teach that we don't preach that we don't believe that but at the same time There's a balance on various things that we teach and believe and here's the thing I believe that if you are liberal if you are giving I certainly believe that God is gonna provide your needs. I Mean you think about the woman that Jesus said, you know She put in more than anybody else because she gave basically everything she had I don't think God allowed that woman to starve to death I believe God blessed that woman because of the fact she was very generous in giving and this is what the Bible saying the liberal soul Shall be made fat and he that watereth shall be watered also Himself go to Matthew 10, Matthew 10 Matthew 10 I Mean it makes common sense if God can trust you with money He might give you more if he can't trust you with money, he's probably not gonna give it to you Right me if you're praying for to God, you know, man I need more money and then all of a sudden you use that money for alcohol and cigarettes I'm just thinking logically if I had a son that was asking for something and I gave him money He used it in alcohol and cigarettes. What is teaching me is I should quit giving him money Because I can't trust him with it, right and you know what? This is the concept found in the Bible the liberal soul shall be made fat God is going to provide for those that are actually generous themselves Matthew 10 verse 8 Heal the sick cleanse the lepers raise the dead cast out devils freely ever received Freely give now there's a lot of ways that we can apply it attached to this idea of it's more blessed to give Than to receive but just the idea of if you receive something kind of undeserved or freely give it to other people now This is actually a passage on soul winning and I don't believe that's necessarily the primary Way that it should be applied. It's not necessarily how I'm applying this in the sermon. That is an application You freely receive the gospel from somebody Somebody gave it to you Right. We're not at a church where it's just like we're handing out invitation invitations and it's like five pesos, right? It's like, you know, you freely heard the gospel from someone freely give it to other people, right? But the concept is true in other areas as well And one of the areas I can think of is that when I first started going to church in college, you know I remember, you know, I didn't have a lot of money when I was in college, you know I was barely scraping by I never went out to eat I just ate very inexpensive things, you know trying to save money and you know My pastor would sometimes invite me and my friends out to eat and you know He was very wise because he understood they probably don't want to spend the money even though they want to hang out He's like, don't worry. We'll pay for your meal It meant a lot to me because at the time five dollars was a lot of money to me And it you know in America five dollars is actually very inexpensive, you know for a meal But at the time I was just thinking man, I'm trying to save everything I can right But you know, I wanted to hang out with everybody and it's just like, you know, the pastor said I'll pay for your meal Well, here's the thing You know when I was a college student I didn't have much but then as time goes by you maybe are in a better position Financially and you can use the money that God has blessed you with to help somebody else out Freely you have received and freely gave go in your Bible to Luke 6 Luke chapter 6 Luke 6 Luke 6 You don't want to be a person that's always just take take take in all areas of your life and quite honestly It's gonna make you a miserable person if you're always just taking taking taking and not Giving to other people, you know You want to be someone who's a generous person a giving person and honestly it's gonna help you with your own Attitude and your character is gonna make you in a better mood When you're a generous person if you take this concept Luke 6 verse 38 Given it shall be given on to you good measure pressed down and shaken together and running over Shall men given to your bosom for the same measure that ye meet with all it shall be measured to you again And the idea is you know You think of like cooking and you measure out a certain amount and the amount that you basically put in that cup If you have like half a cup, then that's the amount that's gonna come back to you, right? And so basically if you fill the cup up then that's the amount that's gonna come back to you The idea is being generous that if you're generous God's gonna provide for you, but if you're not generous at all and you never help anybody out with anything Right, I mean just imagine I'm using an extreme example but but imagine somebody was very rich somebody was a millionaire and they're at a church with a bunch of soul winners and Somebody's really struggling and they need something very small. Like hey, can I have just like, you know 12 pesos for the jipney fee? it's like no and It's like that would be very ungenerous, right? You it's like are you kidding me? You know, you can't let them give them money so they can just get back and not have to walk You know like 40 minutes I mean But the idea is that if you're not willing to give much then not much is gonna come back to you go in your Bible to Ephesians 4 Ephesians 4 Ephesians chapter 4 Ephesians 4 verse 28 Ephesians 4 verse 28 the Bible reads let him that stole Steal no more But rather let him labor working with his hands the thing which is good that he may have to give to him that needed and the Bible says You know someone who's basically just stealing from other people and they use the term in America You say like a mooch, you know mooching off of other people or leeching off of other people and just always getting you know Free this and free that and what it does happen in church life Also, we've had people before at our church that were leeches and mooch is just taking from other people and guilting them into it And I would say let him that stole steal no more labor Work hard, but why that he may have to give to him that needed You see how it's taken away from what you need to what somebody else needs one reason why? You should work hard and try to be successful is to help other people out in need That's what the Bible teaches Right. The idea is it's more blessed to give Than to receive turn your Bible to Acts 4 Acts 4 Acts chapter 4 Acts chapter 4 Acts 4 verse 34 And the Bible reads in Acts 4 verse 34 Neither was there any among them that lacked for as many as were Possessors of lands or houses sold them and brought the prices of the things that were sold now Let me let me just take a little while to explain this because this this as well as the next chapter can be very very misunderstood The Bible does not teach or support communism at all This idea where let's just divide the wealth just everybody makes different amounts of money Let's just take it and equally divide out that doesn't make logical sense. It would never work It never does work and there's many reasons why okay, it's not what's being taught in Acts chapter 4 But what you need to understand is during this time period if you had Christian on your resume It probably makes you unqualified for a lot of jobs Right now a lot of people are getting saved but at the same time a lot of those in authority were very anti-christian and it's kind of like if you're actually a Christian and You know you get baptized you make it known it kind of is gonna make it hard for you with jobs Right, I mean during this time period and so a lot of people are struggling financially now Here's the thing people at the church do not have to sell their land or Sell their houses and give it to the church to distribute to other people The people that are doing this are doing this out of generosity not out of requirements, right? What God requires from you is 10% right and the Bible does say 10% he does not require you though to sell your house Right, and you know what? I don't know how they preach at other churches, but people might try to guilt you say Hey, God has blessed you with a nicer car than other people. You need to give it to the church I don't believe that I don't teach that we don't teach or preach communism at our church People are in different situations for various reasons, and that's fine I mean church is a very unique place because we come together from different backgrounds different perspectives I mean church is the most unique place that you're gonna go people are from various different backgrounds various jobs It's different because at your company or in general with the world people usually hang out with people that are just like them Same jobs same careers same majors same interests. That's just kind of the way it is with church is different You hang out with people that have the similar beliefs as you right? And so there's a lot of generous people and they said you know what God has blessed me so I am gonna sell what I have to help out those that are financially struggling and it says in verse 35 and laid them down at the Apostles feet and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need and Joseph's who by the Apostles was surname Barnabas, which is being interpreted the son of consolation a Levite in of the country of Cyprus Having land Sold it and brought the money and laid it at the Apostles feet. You know this is something that often kind of gets lost With Barnabas is he's a man who had some means of financial success Right me he sells the land and he says I'm just gonna give it to the church Laid at the Apostles feet to help out those that are struggling at the church Anyways, just basically like a missionary just kind of giving up everything to be honest I don't believe I'd be as generous as Barnabas I mean, this is pretty generous to sell a land that you have and just give it to the church And the Bible does not require you to do this But at the same time do I think Barnabas is regretting his decision now? Obviously not because surely you get a lot of rewards in heaven for doing something like that I would never ask somebody to do that I would never try to guilt somebody and do that if I was in this position. I probably would not do that myself but I do believe Barnabas is You know gets a lot of rewards for that and I truly think that it gave him a great happiness To see that he had the ability to use that to help other people out go to Philippians chapter 2 Philippians 2 I mean, isn't it true you get your kids a gift for Christmas and you see the excitement on their face when they open it Brings you a great joy, doesn't it? Makes you feel great Now when here's the truth when I was a kid, I'm just like what am I gonna get right? That's kind of the way you are as a kid Right, but as a parent, it's just kind of like, you know, whatever's fine. Honestly, you know, it's just it's more about the kids At that point and honestly, you know this idea that's more blessed to give than to receive Also is closely associated with this idea taught in the Bible The central theme throughout the entire Bible in my opinion is that your life is not about yourself It's not about yourself Right. Jesus Christ Was cut off but not for himself, right? That's what we just saw in the last sermon I mean our lives are not about us When you get married, you certainly learn that principle. Your life is not about you. It's about your spouse when you have kids you certainly Learn your life is not about you. It's about your kids I mean kids at a young age are completely dependent on mom and dad for survival Without mom and dad they would die and Look, all of us were once young children ourselves and if it weren't for a mom and dad helping us out We would have died. That's reality Right, and you know having kids that teaches you this idea that you know, it's not all about what I want It's about helping out my children See point number one. We looked at financially and this is usually how you know We think of this term. It's more blessed to give than to receive but also in your service or your volunteering It's more blessed to give of yourself than to receive Philippians 2 verse 3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory But in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves the idea being Consider other people to be more important than yourself. Have a lowly view of yourself Look at yourself as not being the most important thing in the world Look, not every man on his own things But every man also on the things of others be concerned about what other people have Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus see the way Jesus Christ we saw at the beginning You know that he said it's more blessed to give than to receive and I do believe that he said that but what we're looking At is how he lived his life in that way We're basically, you know, let this mind be in you Esteeming others better than yourself. That's how he lived his life and that ought to be the way that we live our lives in 2022 or 2023 coming up live your life and don't focus on yourself so much but care about other people verse 6 who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no Reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man He humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name That of the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth It's interesting to me when you think of every character or person who's ever lived the most humble was obviously Jesus Christ and Yet nobody is exalted more than Jesus Christ on the contrary who exalted themselves more than anybody in the history of the world the devil and Who is going to be burning more in hell? Humbled more than anybody else It's gonna be the devil and see there's this principle taught in the way taught in the Bible that the way up Is down the way up is down through humility through being humble the way up is down and if you're a person that always Lifts yourself up like Adonijah in the Bible then you're gonna be humbled Right on the contrary if you live a humble life and have a lower view of yourself. You're going to be exalted That's what the Bible teaches now that could just merely be rewards in heaven But surely God's gonna provide your needs and he's gonna bless you because it's more blessed to give than to receive Right. I do believe you receive a blessing from God if you live your life caring about other people more than yourself Turn your Bible to mark 10 mark 10 mark chapter 10 Now this is certainly what the Bible teaches but this is certainly not what the world teaches I mean the world it's like make your life all about you you you me me me me me me But you know what the Bible teaches is your life is not about you For example, you know we think about you know going so any right when we go so winning. We're not going to help ourselves Have you ever had somebody ask you that question out so winning, you know Well, if this isn't helping you get to heaven, then why are you doing it? Right and it's to me it comes across as a foolish or unlearned question I'm not saying you shouldn't answer but I'm just saying I'm like, well, I'm not doing this for myself. I Said that you may know that you have eternal life if I didn't know I wouldn't be telling you I mean obviously I I know this but I want to do it to help other people out Well, we're going so winning. The biggest thing is the fact that we're trying to save other people from hell Anyway, it's it's a powerful weight That's upon us because you know, honestly when you stop and think of the reality of hell and realize that people are completely helpless They can't do anything about it There's nothing they can do to save themselves. It's impossible They can't read the Bible on their own and get saved They can't do enough good works or get baptized or anything. They're completely helpless and you know what in our text verse That we read it. It talked about how so laboring you ought to support the weak Well in a sense of being saved someone who's unsafe is as weak as possible because they have no hope No chance for them. Yeah, we ought to labor to help those people out and get them safe. But here's my point We go so winning but not for ourselves and yet don't you leave so winning in a great mood There had people ask you this question, you know Cuz you know they get to know you at work Maybe and they know that you go to church a lot and you go so winning and they see you reading your Bibles And then they ask you this question. What do you do for fun? Right if you had that question, I've had that question before as I just told you I go so winning Right I'm reading the Bible. It's like we're not doing this, you know, and we are doing this out of duty But you actually enjoy it and God actually gives you the desires of your heart, right when you're right with God You enjoy so winning you enjoy reading the Bible you enjoy being in church you enjoy these things Right and it's more blessed to give than to receive you give of your time and yourself to help other people out and it makes You happy. It's the way it works mark 10 verse 35 and James and John the sons of Zebedee come on to him saying master We would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever. We shall desire and he said unto them What would you that I should do for you? They said unto him grant unto us that we may sit one on their right hand and the other on thy left hand in thy Glory, well, that's that's a small request, isn't it? What do you want? You know, did you want a glass of water? Did you want a slice of bread? No, we want to sit beside you in the kingdom, right? But Jesus said unto them ye know not what ye ask Can you drink of the cup that I drink of and be baptized with the baptism that I'm baptized with? And they said unto him we can and Jesus said unto them ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of and with Baptism that I'm baptized with all shall you be baptized But it said on my right hand on my left hand is not mine to give But it should be given to them for whom it is prepared and when the ten heard it they began to be much displeased with James and John now, here's the thing I Could understand them being upset with James and John except for the fact they're shown a bit of hypocrisy because when you read the Gospels they're also arguing about who's going to be the greatest and then Jesus like what were you guys discussing and it's just like Hey, look at the weather, right? It's kind of warm today right and they just kind of change the subject or just just avoid it right and so obviously, you know, the reality is the Eleven not twelve not Jesus scared, but the other eleven were great people, right? I Probably accomplished a lot more than I will my life all of them and yet they struggled with Pride and humility and what that shows us one thing is it's it's something we all probably struggle with right only by pride cometh contention and When there's a fight when there's an argument pride is for sure involved in at least one person usually two though Right and if great people can struggle with it, so can I so can you so can all of us, right? But then it says this in verse 42 But Jesus called them to him and saith unto them you know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles Exercise lordship over them and their great ones exercise authority upon them. Now, what does that mean? Here's what he's saying. If you're in a powerful position in this world, let's say you own a company with a hundred employees You tell your employees what to do you exercise being the boss Lordship over them right people that are in positions of authority with people underneath They are the ones that make the rules. That's just the way it works right and in a company. There's nothing wrong with that That's just the way it works, right? But here's what he's doing He's using that as an example to say you're looking at this from the wrong perspective Because if you want to be great in the kingdom here is the secret It's not lifting yourself up because the way up is down is what the Bible teaches, but in verse 43 But so shall it not be among you, but whosoever will be great among you Shall be your minister He says if you want to be great then minister or serve and help other people Now they should have figured this out because they're around Jesus all the time It's not like Jesus is there and just making himself this almighty King Right where it's like all right. Where's my breakfast where I mean? He's the one doing all this work, and he's showing them by his life that it's more blessed to give Than to receive now of course When he comes the second time he will come to rule He will be the one giving the rules and exercising authority But that's not why he came the first time he came to be a minister and to serve unto other people Verse number 44 and whosoever of you will be the chiefest shall be servant of all for even the Son of Man came not to Be ministered unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many Go to Romans 15 Romans 15 You Know a lot of a lot of songs in our hymnal you know have really powerful works right our hymnal There's a lot of great songs that are aren't in our hymnal, but there's a lot of great songs in our hymnal And you know I think of that song we sing sometimes I gave my life for thee and It's basically like in you know as if Christ was talking to us like I gave my life for thee What hast thou given for me and whatever he's saying that song. I'm just thinking ouch That's some hard preaching right me. He died and paid for all my sins It's like what have I done for God right because it's very easy to kind of go about our lives And then we make our lives about ourselves Right we make ourselves. Just like you know the best actor in our own little movie, but you know what our life should not be about Us it should be about other people Bible says in Romans 15 verse 1 We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please ourselves Now it works this way in all areas when you look at people that are Weaker or don't have the ability if you're stronger you ought to bear the infirmities of the weak the example. I gave raising kids Children are the weakest of anyone you could possibly think of we talked about abortion last week I mean inside the womb most especially but even a young child. I mean They're weak Basic things they can't do Right now they don't necessarily realize this but in terms of just feeding them Or just changing diapers very basic stuff and yet They're completely dependent on mom and dad and here's the thing you could get upset about it and say oh I shouldn't have to help out, but remember you were once very weak yourself You're once a baby as well that from time to time annoyed your parents through the night, right? What the Bible says is if you're strong you ought to bear the infirmities of the week You gotta have compassion in your heart and look at other people say man How can I help out or another example look at this? Let's say we go out soul-willing today, and we get somebody saved that knows nothing about the Bible Do you realize that if they start coming to our church on a regular basis? They'll probably say a lot of things where it's just like you know how do they not know that right? They'll probably do a lot of things where it's just they're a new Christian They're a baby Christian and babies are very weak Completely dependent on other people to help them out Right I mean if you've been saved for a long time in a soul winner for a while I mean ask yourself in your own heart number one you didn't save yourself Somebody gave you the gospel number two you didn't learn all these things in the Bible yourself either Now make no mistake you can learn a lot of great things from Bible in your own reading And I've learned a lot of great things But let me just be completely honest a lot of the things that you hear me preach say brother segue How did you learn that pastor Jimenez? Pastor Anderson other great preachers even my old IFP pastors You know I learned a lot of things when I was in those churches You know I repeat that phrase a lot the way up is down you say where'd you get that from I heard it in a? Sermon at an old IFP church, and it's always stuck with me. I was like that's a great phrase Right I'm not I'm not embarrassed about you know re-preaching great things that I've learned myself Right and you know what here's the thing though if you've received a lot of great information You got to think of a way. How can I pass this on to other people? Now of course if you have kids teach your kids the Word of God If you're a parent, and you know all of these great doctrines, are you teaching your kids? Are you helping them learn these things? Right because it's more blessed to give than to receive you received all this great information It's time to start passing that information on to other people Got to bear the infirmities of the week and not to please ourselves let every one of us please his neighbor for his good Dedification for even Christ, please not himself, but as it is written there were approaches of them that were approached They fell on me centered around this idea. It's more blessed to give Than to receive go to John 15. We'll look at two more places John 15 John 15 John chapter 15 And in John 15 verse 12 Bob rates This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you now Notice Jesus does not say that you love one another as I will one day love you He says as I have loved you past tense, right? He's already shown this to me said I want you to love in the way that I've loved you and then he says in verse 13 Greater love hath no man than this that a man laid down his life for his friends Now here's the thing about this Jesus had not yet died For the sins of the world and I understand he's the lamb slain from the foundation of the world We get that what I'm saying is in the earthly sense as he's talking to people He's explaining in a way they can understand He says I want you to love in the way that I've loved and then he talks about laying down your life for your friends Here's the reality I'm probably not gonna have to die for you Right, you're probably not gonna have to die for me So what is exactly does he mean? He's not saying that they all need to be crucified Well, yes, he would literally be crucified and that's the greatest show of love that you could give as an individual to lay down your life for others But what he's saying is in a symbolic sense We should symbolically lay down our lives on a daily basis for other people Basically, don't make your life about yourself Right esteem others better than yourself, it's more blessed to give Than to receive go to John 13. We'll close up And you know, this is honestly something, you know, it's a basic sermon But we need to be reminded about this during the Christmas time because Christmas is about Jesus Christ Christmas about the birth of Jesus Christ That he that he came born of the Virgin he died and paid for our sins And what did he teach throughout his entire ministry? Your life is not about you We just saw that in John 15 and then in John 13 Point number one we looked at financially. It's more blessed to give than to receive point two with your service or volunteering It's more blessed to give than to receive but point three if you take this in your life. What you're gonna find is Happiness it will make you happy if you don't make your life about yourself, but you make it about other people John 13 verse 4 He rises from supper and laid aside his garments and took a towel and girded himself After that he pours water into a basin and began to wash the disciples feet and to wipe them with the tower with he was Girded then cometh he to Simon Peter and Peter saith unto him Lord dost thou wash my feet Jesus answered and said unto him what I do thou knowest not now But thou shalt know hereafter Peter saith unto him thou shalt never wash my feet now You gotta love Peter, right? He gives he gives you great sermon material right now Honestly in a way This is a this is a bit of a rude statement by Peter in a way and it's actually a bit of a prideful Statement that is coming across as humble Because of the fact other disciples are allowing Jesus to wash their feet and it's like it's almost like he's elevating himself above them But I get the concept because you know, have you ever washed your kids feet before they're playing outside. They're really dirty They get some gum stuck on their foot or whatever and you're scrubbing it It's a pretty humbling thing to wash somebody's feet, right? And I get the fact that you would feel a bit shy a bit embarrassed to have your Lord and Savior wash your feet But at the same time Jesus is doing this out of the kindness of his heart If somebody does something nice for you, you ought to accept it right if somebody's doing something or giving you something it's rude not to accept it and Peter says thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him if I wash thee not Thou has no part with me Simon Peter saith unto him Lord not my feet only but also my hands and my head Right I've learned that verse hilarious At first he's just like I feel embarrassed. I feel shy don't wash my feet. Then you don't have any part Just just wash everything, right? and What Jesus is is saying symbolically in verse 8 is actually a reference to salvation Where if I don't wash you you have no part with me and you can see that from the couple verses after that work You know, you got to be, you know washed from your sins, you know washed in the blood as we sing in a lot of songs Right, and then it says in verse 10 Peter said Jesus not Peter Jesus saith Jesus saith to him verse 10 he that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet But is clean every whit and you're clean But not all which is a statement that you know, you're washed You're clean, but not Judas Iscariot, right? Not all because Judas is a phony For he knew who should betray him Judas Iscariot therefore said he ye are not all clean So after he had washed their feet and had taken his garments it was set down again He said unto them know ye what I have done to you ye call me master and Lord and ye say well For so I am now remember earlier He talked about how you know, those that are in great positions will exercise their authority But he said it's not going to be so among you but if you want to be great Be a minister and he's asking them, you know What have I done for you? Right and he says he call me master and Lord and he say well for so I am Which is also a statement of deity because the Lord God Almighty, right? He's saying yes, I am the master Yes, I am the Lord you say well for so I am if I then your Lord master have washed your feet You also ought to wash one another's feet now There are churches that have foot washing ministries and you'll be happy to know we are not starting a new ministry in 2023 of foot washing, okay, and They take this passage But I believe that he's being symbolic here and what he's expressing is What I've done to you is I've given of my time and I've humbled myself out I've been a servant to you because if you're washing someone else's feet then you're serving them You're ministering to them. You're helping them out and you're in positions of authority Sometimes you should do that you have kids you wash their feet because they need the help right you support the week, right? But he's saying you know, I've given of myself and I've helped you out Right, and he's he's letting them know this because you have to realize that during this time period The Apostles are giving their lives for the cause of Christ Quite honestly, probably more than I would be willing to do They're just giving of their lives and just completely laying it down to help other people out But here's the thing if you're trying to serve God and you're always going to church and So winning and reading the Bible and busy It's very easy to develop this attitude of bitterness or get upset because you're thinking what's in it for me Right, I'm doing all of this and what am I getting out of it, right? I mean if we're honest that sort of attitude is probably crept in all of our hearts to some level of degree from time to time I Know that I felt that before where you feel like man. I've given up so much What am I getting in return and I believe this is why he's expressing it to them and he says here in Verse 15 for I've given you an example that you should do as I have done to you Verily verily I say to you this servant is not greater than his Lord Neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him So question is well, what am I getting out of this brother Stuckey? I'm volunteering I'm helping but then he says this in verse 17 if you know these things Happier ye if you do them What exactly is he stating there now, I do believe we can apply this to if we obey God's commandments We know these things we're happy if we do them But honestly the direct context is of giving of your lives to help other people out It's more blessed to give than to receive and he said if you know these things Happier ye if you do them now if you know these things and You don't do them Can be miserable This is why sometimes people gonna be in a church and say oh I go to this church and now I'm so miserable And you know what I try to be kind and respectful to people, but here's the reality it's it's because of you something wrong with the church I Don't I don't force you we're not a church that well We got a bulletin board make sure you write your attendance to make sure Because we got to make sure he gets your tie right there churches that do that We don't do that I've made it very clear the last couple weeks you are welcome to go home early and celebrate Christmas Christmas with your family at home if you want have I not said that I don't want to force anybody To be here, but we have so many marathons all the time You don't have to come I'm not gonna stand in judgment or look down on you because honestly we all have various levels You know the Bible says be not righteous over much and some people might have more of an ability To just give of their selves to help out with stuff. It's okay to take a break vacation or whatever But here's what I am saying It makes you happy when you give of your lives to help other people out If you know these things happier ye if you do them Right I I live a happy life I consider myself a happy person I enjoy my life Now of course if you know what you you decide to make your life about so winning and church and helping others out There's a lot of things you got to leave behind then And it's very easy to just end your mind just meditate on these things like I miss this I miss this you know you say What's the secret brother suck you just quit thinking about it? That's the secret We all did things in the past that we loved and enjoyed and you had here's the reality you know you start having kids you Learn this concept because a lot of things you're not able to do anymore Right I mean I have three kids there's a lot of things I would love to do in my free time I don't have time to do all those things anymore. It just is what it is Right, but but here's the thing about this though every stage of life has things that are better and things that are worse Right yeah, you know you start having kids You got to give them your time and your effort your energy, but you know what at the same time You know what before you have kids you don't get to see that smile on your child's face When they open up a present you don't get to see that smile on their face when your dad comes home from work right they're so happy and You say why are some people miserable though when they're serving and because you think of Martha in the Bible Right I mean she she feels a bit miserable for a while And you know what here's what I'd say a lot of people turn blessings into a curse Because it's actually a blessing for us that we can give of our lives to help other people out It would actually make us happy actually make us better people it actually make us in a good mood But sometimes we can allow bitterness to come in our hearts and we can turn a blessing into a curse and get miserable when in Reality we're actually living a very blessed life 99% this world is unsaved in my opinion 95 plus percent whatever the percentage is worldwide out of that 1% that saved what percentage of people are soul winners Very few you say well. I have to go so winning well. I mean if you're saved. Yeah, you're in the Lord's Army He's given on to us the ministry of reconciliation, but here's the thing I mean when you get somebody saved There's a joy that comes across you that Someone who has never gotten somebody saved just cannot understand now There's a joy when you get saved yourself for me It was more of like a feeling of relief, but I was also excited as well But felt very relieved like wow I had no idea that I was basically this close to hell, right? But then when you get somebody else saved it brings a joy upon you that you just can't Explain it's one of those moments that if you if you if you didn't experience you just don't fully understand You know the last few weeks. You know my family got really sick, which you could tell from my voice You know recently and because of it. I wasn't able to go so winning for you know about two weeks, right? You know I was you know you preach sermons you lose your voice and everything And you're trying to recover my wife was able to go a little bit before me She got better before me But I wasn't able to go for a while last Sunday, so I went a couple weeks without getting somebody saved last Sunday You know I got somebody saved out so winning the afternoon. I was extremely excited. You know brother Ronald was I not excited I was excited. I was like man. This feels great You say why because I had been without it for a couple weeks, and it's like you I had lost that that that joy You know I hadn't been able to experience that joy because I hadn't been able to go so winning And it's like you know what this idea of it's more blessed to give than to receive it's certainly true if you make your life about other people and Not about yourself if you know these things happier ye if you do them That's reality. There's a lot of famous people and celebrities in this world. Are they happier than the average person though I? Would say they're actually probably in general more miserable you say why because their life's about them Everywhere they go people want hey, can I have your autograph? Right and you know what that's going to give you a puffed up view of yourself and the reality is it's going to make you a miserable person and It would be a very frustrating thing to be very famous Everybody loves you everybody adores you and you would think that brings you happiness and yet, you're miserable This is why a lot of celebrities end up going on a lot of you know Antidepressants commit suicide and all these things because you would think I mean when I was a kid My dream was become the greatest soccer player ever That's my goal Right my goal was to be I guess you know Lionel Messi which didn't happen, right? It's like my goal is to be the most famous soccer player Greatest ever bring the World Cup to America for the first time in and it's just like you think that's gonna make you happy But celebrities aren't more happy than average people Right you say why because it's more blessed to give than to receive And I'll tell you what it's something we need to be reminded of during the holiday season don't make our lives about ourselves Make your life about other people number one make it about Jesus Christ because that's what Christmas is about But number two make it about other people And what you're gonna find is you're gonna have a very joyful and happy Christmas if you don't just make it all about yourself Let's close in a word prayer your Heavenly Father. Thank you for allowing us to be here today and Getting to see this concept It's more blessed to give than to receive and help us be people that are generous with our time with our money Just in all areas be willing to to give and rather than being a person who just always receives but actually try to help other people out God and help us be people that realize that you know what our our Happiest life that we could live is actually when we're in your will and obeying your commandments God. We pray these things in Jesus name Amen Our last song is Our So number four hundred forty-one So number four hundred forty-one It's time for this Ladies died be honest. Oh God my father on the first ready sing Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh All right The chairs back there and everything there we're gonna clear those out We're gonna set up the tables for the food and for the fellowship So if the men can help me with just clearing out the tables if you have any belongings They're gonna set it up as like a buffet table style and then we'll set our tables up here and got a big crowd today So try to make it as little Muggalo as possible, right? But we'll just clear out all that stuff so they can do that I'm just gonna quickly pray for a blessing upon the food and just pray for the end of service here your Heavenly Father Thank you for allowing us be here on Christmas Day to just Celebrate the birth of your son Jesus Christ, and we ask you to just bless this entire day from the soul Indian fellowship But also the food we're about to partake in God Thank you for sending your son to die for us in the paper since God we pray this in Jesus name. Amen