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Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] Good evening and welcome to Verity Baptist Church. Let's go ahead and find our seats this evening. Find a seat and find a hymnal close to you and turn to page number 211. That's song number 211. Whosoever meaneth me is song number 211 and let's go ahead and sing it out on the first. I am happy today and the sun shines bright. The clouds have been rolled away. For the Savior said, Whosoever will, may come with me to stay. Whosoever should meaneth me, should meaneth me. Oh, should meaneth me. Whosoever should meaneth me, whosoever meaneth me. Song number 211. Let's sing it out on the second. All my hopes have been raised. All His name be praised. His glory has filled my soul. Set up from the sins and free, His blood hath made me whole. Whosoever should meaneth me, oh, should meaneth me. Whosoever should meaneth me, whosoever meaneth me. Let's sing it out on the last. Oh, I wonder for love. Oh, I'm crazy blind. That Jesus should die for me. I was lost in sin for the world. I, I am sad to be. Whosoever should meaneth me, should meaneth me. Oh, should meaneth me. Whosoever should meaneth me, whosoever meaneth me. Amen. Great singing. Welcome to the Sunday evening service here at Verity Baptist Church. Glad to see, glad to see everyone here this evening. Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. The heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for the opportunity again to come to your house this evening, Lord. For the people that are here, Lord, thank you for everything that you've done today. I pray that you bless the service, bless the singing and the preaching. Come, Lord. We love you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. All right. Now it's time for favorites, where if you're selected, we will sing a stanza from the song that you pick. Did I see Uriah raise his hand? Or what do you want? One hundred and forty five. All right. Song number one hundred and forty five. It is well with my soul. Song number one hundred and forty five on the first. When peace like a river attended my way. When sorrows I see will flow. Whatever my life thou hast taught me to say. It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. Lexi, go ahead. Two hundred and ten. Amen. Song number two one zero. Wonderful Grace of Jesus. Sing it out on the first. May my mind setting my spirit free. For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me. Wonder who the masses praise of Jesus. Deeper than the mind rolling sea. Higher than the mountain. Smartened like a fountain. All sufficient grace for evenly. Mother than the sloop of my transgressions. Greater but and always in shame. Oh magnify the masses praise of Jesus. Praise his name. Sisi, go ahead. Twenty four on the third. We're in a roll. Song number twenty four. And can it be? Let's sing it out on the last. Let it be. But now my God shows time for me. One hundred and sixty two. One six two to God be the glory. One six two on the first. To God be the glory. Great things he had done. So loved he the world that he gave us his son. Who knew that his life had come from sinful sin. And hope that the life did not only go in. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Let the earth hear his voice. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Let the people rejoice. Oh come to the Father. And give him the glory. Great things he had done. Four hundred and thirty six on the first. First. The star spangled banner. Alright we're going to have to stand up for this one. Alright let's sing it out on the first. Oh say can you see by the dawn's early light. What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming. Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight. O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming. And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air. Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave. O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. Amen. Maybe sit down. Alright Brother Salvador go ahead. Forty on the last. Song number forty. There's no disappointment in having a song of recording. Sing it out on the last. No funeral train in the sky. No graves in the hillsides of worry. O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. Singing only about the white flag sometimes. In the glories I wish I could hold. What a joy that will be when I sing all I see. In that beautiful city of gold. Sing one more song Miss Ariel go ahead. What was it? Two hundred and twenty-eight. I love to tell the story. Song number two hundred and twenty-eight. This will be the last song. Sing it out on the first. I love to tell the story of us and things above. Of Jesus and his glory. Of Jesus and his love. I love to tell the story. Because I love to show. It satisfies my longing. As nothing else can do. I love to tell the story. Because well he might be in glory. To tell the old old story. Because Jesus and his love. Amen. Great to see you. Amen. All right. I want to welcome you to the Sunday evening service here at Radio Baptist Church. We're glad you're with us. I like to call it the most exciting service of the week. And it's the Sunday night service of course. We're glad you're here. Let's take our bulletins. We'll look at some announcements real quickly. If you do not have a bulletin just raise your hand. And one of our ushers will get one for you. If you need a bulletin just put your hand up. The verse this week Psalm 33 12. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. And the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. And that's a good verse there. If you open up your bulletin you'll see our service time. Sunday morning service 10 30 a.m. Sunday evening service 6 p.m. We invite you to be with us for the Wednesday night Bible study. If you look at our soul winning times. Our main soul winning times on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. Then we have additional soul winning times on Thursdays Fridays and Sundays at 2 p.m. If you are a soul winner don't forget to add your salvation's on your communication card. So that we can add it to the bulletin. If you finished a map. Excuse me. If you did not finish a map. If you finish your map you can just discard it. Throw it away. We'll count it as done. If you did not finish a map and or if there's something wrong with the map. If you would just clearly mark that and put it in the bin in the foyer. Then we will get that recycled back through and make sure that it's taken care of. And if you're running late don't forget to call us at Texas there at the number 916-868-9080. Let us know your plan on being there but you're running late. That way we can have a partner for you and everything you need. We of course are a family integrated church. What that means is that children and infants are always welcome in the service. We don't separate children from their parents for any reason. We do have mother baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience. So if you have a child that's being distracting during the service. So if you need some privacy we would encourage you to use those rooms as needed. If you're not sure where those are at you can look at the back of the bulletin. You'll see a layout of our church building there. If you need to be baptized please let us know. We'd love to baptize you. If you look at the announcements and upcoming events. Of course we're going through a journey with Jesus and we'll continue that tonight. Tomorrow is the church picnic and you don't want to miss it. It's going to be a fun time. I'm always, at the end of 4th of July I'm always, I don't know if shock's the right word, but surprised just how much fun everybody has at these 4th of July picnics. They just really are a lot of fun. So we encourage you of course to be there. It'll start at 3 p.m. and the ladies, you can just come of course and relax. You don't have to do anything but if you'd like the ladies are going to be playing volleyball. And the men are going to be playing softball and the kids are going to have a water balloon fight. And then we're going to have the fireworks at the end of the night as well. So make sure that you don't forget about that. And if you'd like to sign up to bring a dish to share you can do that in the foyer or sign up to bring a dessert. And tomorrow morning we've got the park reserved and all of that. We need to try to get our staff guys out to the park as soon as possible. Even though it starts at 3 we need to get there early to make sure no one takes our location and get things set up. So since tomorrow is 4th of July and you probably have the day off if you are able to come and help. This is the staff guys paid me to make this announcement. But if you're able to come and help clean the building at 10 a.m. that would help them out to get out of here faster to be able to set up for the 4th of July picnic. So if you've got the day off and you feel like you could come help they would appreciate that. You can just show up at 10 a.m. or talk to Brother David or Brother Shaw and I'm sure they would appreciate the help. Red Hot Preaching Conference is just right around the corner. Make sure you're making plans to attend. And I just want to remind you that there will be no Wednesday evening Bible study on July 13th. Our midweek service will be Thursday night. And then of course we have church Friday morning, Friday night, soloing on Saturday and then all day Sunday. So I hope you're excited about that. If you've not yet signed up I think lots of you have and we appreciate your help with that. But make sure you go through your volunteer opportunities there. Orchestra practice, choir and orchestra practice today at 5. And family and friend day, they're going to start practicing for the orchestra on Sunday, July 24th. So don't forget about that. Family and friend day of course is our church's anniversary. Upcoming cleaning crew, you can check your name there. Different things there for you to look at. Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off and place them on silent during the service so they're not a distraction to anybody. If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for the month of July. Monica Lario's birthday was on July 1st. Ms. Antonina Bakulczyk's birthday is July 1st as well. Uriah Johnson's birthday was July 1st. Brother Luke Vincent's birthday was July 2nd. And then this week, Ms. Blanca Beale's birthday is July 7th. Little Uretzi de Dios' birthday is July 7th. Brother Montel, Ms. Lindsey Johnson's anniversary is July 7th. And Khaleesi Roldan's birthday is July 8th. Praise report, money matters, all those things are there for you to look at. And I think that's it for all of the announcements. And of course tomorrow is 4th of July. We're already saying the Star Spangled Banner so we might as well sing a patriotic song. So why don't you take your song books and we'll go to page number 435. Page number 435. And we'll sing Oh Beautiful for Spacious Skies. 435. And let's sing it out on the first as we prepare to receive the offering tonight. Oh beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties, Above the fruited plain. America, America, God shine his grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhood, To shining sea. 435. Sing it out on the second. Oh beautiful for built, Whose learning, passion, stress, Above the fair or free, Across the wilderness. America, America, God mend thine every war, Confirm thy soul in child control. America, America, Let's just slow it down if it's all right. I'm not trying to mess you guys up. Let's just slow it down just a little bit on the third. Sing it out on purpose just a little slower on the third. Oh beautiful for heroes, In ever-breaking strife, Who more than sell their country lot, And mercy more than wine. America, America, May God thy gold refine, To all success, The noble death. America, America, Good, just like that, on the last. Oh beautiful for patriot's dream, That sees me on the years, By now the master saves me, On them by human tears. America, America, God shed his grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhood, God save thy shining soul. Amen. Good singing. We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time. And let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do come to you tonight, Lord, asking that you'd meet with us. And Lord, we do want to pray for our nation. It's in turmoil and it's broken. Lord, I pray that you'd help us to shine the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ across this nation, Lord, that people might come to you, that they might be healed. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Please open your hearts to Luke 8, Luke chapter number 8. Luke 8, if you need a bow, just put your hand up and I'm not sure if I bring you a Bible. Luke chapter number 8, if you need a bow, just put your hand up and I'm not sure if I'll come by. Luke 8, we'll read verses 16 through 21. Luke 8, verses 16 through 21. Luke 8, beginning in verse number 16. No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed. But setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light. For nothing is secret that shall not be made manifest, neither anything hid that shall not be known and come abroad. Take heed therefore how ye hear, for whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have. Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press, and told him by certain which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without desiring to see thee. And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God and do it. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this evening. God, I thank you for your word and for our church, for everyone that's here. God, I say please meet with us tonight. Give us ten hearts with a message. I say please be with our pastor to strengthen him and fill him with his spirit. We love you. In Jesus' name, pray. Amen. Amen. We're there in Luke, chapter number eight, and of course we are in this series. I didn't have time putting this cough drop in my mouth. I wasn't preaching very well. So let me swallow it real quick. We're in Luke chapter eight, and we're going through this series called Journey with Jesus. And we've been learning from the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, as he's been teaching through these parables this morning, we looked at the controversial parable of the sower, and we learned about being a fruitful Christian and the good ground. And we learned that the fruitful Christian is a soul winning Christian. And tonight we're going to continue where we left off, and Jesus continues with yet another parable. And he continues these stories, and they seem to be a little bit random when you look at them just at face value. But as you connect them and study them, you begin to see that there's a theme that the Lord Jesus Christ is giving us. If you look down at verse 16, the Bible says, No man, when he lighteth a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed, but seteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light. Jesus begins to teach these parables, and he really is, in my opinion, it's a continuation of the parable of the sower. Obviously, the parable of the sower is done, but he's continuing with this idea of being a fruitful Christian, of being a Christian, the type of Christian that God wants us to be. And I want you to notice, and if you're taking notes tonight, and I would encourage you to write things down on the back of your course of the week. There's a place for you to write down some things. He begins by explaining that a fruitful Christian is one that shines his light. He says, No man, when he lighteth a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed. And the equivalent for us today is, nobody turns a lamp on and then throws a blanket over it. The purpose of turning a light on is to let it shine. And he says, No man, when he lighteth a candle, covereth it with a vessel, but seteth it on a candlestick. You put it somewhere where it's going to provide the most amount of light that they which enter in may see the light. And what Jesus is teaching here is that God did not give you light. He did not give you the light of salvation for you and I to cover it. He gave us the light of salvation that we might set it upon a candlestick that they which enter in may see the light. See, the Bible teaches that Christians are supposed to minister to this world as light. Now let's just run a couple of verses real quickly. Keep your place on Luke chapter 8. That's our text for tonight. But go to John chapter 8 if you would. Just go one book over to John chapter number 8. And look at verse number 12. John chapter number 8 and verse 12. Of course the Bible says, and this is very common knowledge, the Bible tells us that Jesus is the light. In John chapter 8 and verse 12 the Bible says, Then speak Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Jesus said, I am the light of the world. He says, if you follow me, you're not going to walk in darkness. You're going to have the light of light. And the Bible not only tells us, and Jesus not only tells us that he was the light, but he also told us that we are supposed to be the light as well. Go to Matthew chapter 5 if you would. Go backwards. You're going to go past Luke. Mark into Matthew. Matthew chapter 5. And look at verse 14. In John 8, 12 he said, I am the light of the world. In Mark 5, 14 he says, Ye are the light of the world. He says, a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. So we as Christians are supposed to minister to this world as light. Jesus is the light. And we're supposed to be the light. And I want you to understand something. And go with me just real quickly to 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. You're there in Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter number 4. When the Bible talks about this idea of you and I as light, this is something that people talk a lot about it within Christian circles. And even the liberal churches talk a lot about the fact that we're supposed to be salt and light. Salt and light. And that comes from, of course, Matthew. Here we're only focusing on this idea of light. There are a couple of aspects in regards to us being light. And, you know, if you ask the question, well what does it mean to be the light of the world? When Jesus says ye are the light of the world, what does that mean? What does that look like? What are we supposed to be doing? Well, first of all, being a light has to do with preaching the gospel. If you're there in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, look at verse 3. 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and through verse 3. The Bible says, but if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. I want you to notice the context. If our gospel be hid, right? Because who lights a candle and puts a bushel over it? Who lights a candle and covers it? He says if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. Notice verse 4, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. So I want you to notice that when the Bible says that we're supposed to shine as light, because fruitful Christians shine their light. When the Bible talks about us shining our light, it's in reference to preaching the gospel. Now you might be thinking to yourself, you know Pastor Mez, you've been preaching a lot about soul winning lately. And what I would submit to you is that I have not been preaching a lot about soul winning, Jesus has. I've just been regurgitating for you what Jesus said. And to be very honest with you, even myself, you know, on Monday morning I open up the scriptures after I've done my personal Bible reading, and I just look at, okay, what's next that Jesus wants us to learn this week? And I read, you know, ye are the light of the world, and I think to myself, okay, Jesus again? You know, you want me to preach about soul winning again? You want us to talk about this again? But this seems to be very important to Christ. It's something that He brings up a lot, this idea. That we being light, and it has to do with preaching the gospel. That if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. That this world is blinded by the devil, and the light is the glorious gospel of Christ, which will bring them from darkness to light. Look at a couple of other verses. Go to Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter 13. Look at verse 47. If you're there in 2 Corinthians, you go back from 1 Corinthians, Romans, into Acts. Acts chapter 13. Look at verse 47. Acts 13 and verse 47. The Bible says, For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest, notice, be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. Go to Acts 26. Look at verse 18. I'm just trying to show you just a few verses to prove to you that when the Bible talks about us shining the light, it's talking about us shining the gospel light. The glorious gospel of Lord Jesus Christ. Shining that light. God gave you salvation, and he expects you to shine that light. Acts 26. Look at verse 18. Acts 26 verse 18. Acts 26, 18. The Bible says, To open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them, which are sanctified by faith that is in me. Christians are supposed to minister to this world as light. The problem is, the problem is, go back to Luke chapter 8, the problem is when Christians don't shine their light. Again, Luke chapter 8 and verse 16. No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed. You don't turn a lamp on and throw a blanket over it. When you turn a lamp on, when you turn a light on, you would set it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light. And that's what Jesus has done with you and I. Look, he doesn't want our gospel to be hid, because when our gospel is hid, it is hid to them that are lost. So this idea of shining the light, it's this thought that you and I are supposed to take the light of the gospel into this dark world. There are people in this dark world that are blinded by Satan, and we are to bring them out of darkness. We are to bring them out of darkness, because the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not. Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. Now when it comes to the light, not only is there this aspect of us preaching the gospel, I think we all understand that, I think that's pretty clear. Look at verse 17 and Luke chapter 8 and verse 17. But there's another aspect. See, fruitful Christians not only shine their light, and I hope you do, and I hope you will, but I want you to notice secondly that fruitful Christians have nothing to hide. Look at verse 17. For nothing is secret that shall not be made manifest, neither anything hid that shall not be known and come abroad. See, in order for us to shine the light, we must live in the light. And a fruitful Christian, one that walks in light, that shines the light, has nothing to hide because you're walking in the light. The Bible says men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. See, this idea of shining the light has something to do with preaching the gospel. I think that's clear. We saw the verses turning them from darkness to light, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, that we would turn them away from the God of this world. But it also has to do with our personal testimony. Go to Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5, look at verse 16. This is where Jesus taught the same idea in the book of Matthew. Matthew 5, 16. You say, well, what are we supposed to do? As fruitful Christians, if we have nothing to hide, what does that mean? Well, it means a couple of things. First, it means that we should live a life of personal integrity. Matthew 5, 16 says this, let your light so shine before men. Now, you say, what does that mean? It's talking about? In other passages, we've seen that it's talking about shining the gospel light, the glorious gospel. But here, it's not necessarily just talking about the gospel. It's talking about your testimony. You say, well, which one is it? Is shining the light preaching the gospel, or is shining the light having a personal testimony? And the answer is, it's both. If you're going to be a light, you need to both shine the gospel light, and you need to have a personal witness. Matthew 5, 16. Let your light so shine before men. Notice that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, which is in heaven. And you've heard me say it before, and I'll say it again. In fact, you go to 1 Peter, if you would, 1 Peter chapter 3. Towards the end of the New Testament, if you start at Revelation and go backwards, you've got Jude, 3 John, 2 Peter. We obviously don't believe in lifestyle evangelism. But like I've said many times before, we do believe that your lifestyle should match your evangelism. Because shining your light has to do with preaching the gospel, but it also has to do with allowing people to see your good works, that they may glorify your Father, which is in heaven. See, we as Christians, if we're going to make a difference, if we're going to be fruitful, we need to shine our light, but we also need to have nothing to hide. Because there's nothing in secret that shall not be made manifest. Neither anything hid that shall not be known. In 1 Peter 3 and verse 16, I want you to notice these verses. 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 16. The Bible says this, having a good conscience. And do me a favor, put your ribbon or a bookmark or something there in 1 Peter because we're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it, and I want you to be able to get to it quickly. 1 Peter 3, 16, having a good conscience. Now obviously, none of us are perfect, we're all sinners. But the Bible says that we are able to have a good conscience. What does that mean? That means you don't have a guilty conscience. That means that we're obviously all sinners, but that you can stand before God and know in your heart that you're right with God. Nothing between my soul and the Savior, as the song says. He says having a good conscience, that whereas they, referring to the world, speak evil of you, referring to us, as evil doers. Notice what he says. He says, look, the world is going to speak evil of Christians, Bible-believing Christians that actually follow the Bible. They're going to speak evil of you, they're going to say bad things of you. But he says, you and I should live our lives in such a way that whereas they speak evil of you, as of evil doers, they may be ashamed, notice, that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. Now the word conversation is an older word. It means behavior or conduct. Here's what he's saying. He says, look, you need to have a good conscience so that whereas they speak evil of you, as evil doers, they would falsely accuse you and they would be ashamed of falsely accusing you in regards to your good behavior or your good conduct or your good lifestyle, your good conversation in Christ. You say, what does that mean? Here's what it means. The world should attack us and we should not be afraid of the fact that the world attacks us. And look, at Mary Baptist Church, we've had our fair share of the world attacking us. Now let them say that we're a cult. We're not a cult, but let them say that. If they're going to say that, they're going to speak evil against us. Let them say it. Let them say that we're a cult. Let them say that we're a hate group. Let them say that we have hate speech. Let them say that we believe all sorts of things that are mean and not going with their program. And whatever they're going to say about us, hey, let them speak evil of you as evil doers. But let them not say that we are crooks, that we're dishonest. Do you understand the difference? Let them look at us and say those people, that Verity Baptist Church, that pastor Jimenez, and those people at that church, they are evil, they are mean, they are hateful, they are bad people. And then have somebody else say, oh man, really, what do you mean? Do they abuse their children? And then have them say, no, actually they're pretty good parents. What do you mean? Like they're committing adultery on their wife? No, no, they're great husbands. What do you mean? Like the wives are just, you know, these horrible ladies? No, no, they've got pretty good marriages. What do you mean? Like they cheat and steal? They don't pay their bills? No, no, they all pay their bills. What do you mean? They just show up to work late and they don't work hard? No, they're great workers. I mean, if you can hire one, you should hire one. I mean, let them say, hey, they are evil, they are hateful, they are wicked. But their conduct is above reproach. See, a fruitful Christian is one who not only shines his light, but a fruitful Christian is one that has nothing to hide. Go ahead and reproach me for the Word of God. But let them be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. Years ago, our church suffered a protest due to a sermon I preached and different things going on. I remember one thing that I was thankful for, I thought was interesting, was somebody sent me an article or something written online and people were attacking us and they were saying, oh, that group, they're bigots and they're, you know, I forget all the things they called us. They're like, they're racists. And I was thankful that one of the protesters actually corrected another protest and said, you know, you can call them other things, but one thing you can't call them is racists. Like, that church is filled with every color, red and yellow, black and white. You know, and I was thankful for that. Because you know what, if they want to say that we're homophobic, I just think they're heterophobic. But, you know, if they want to say that there's certain things that we hate, hey, you know, I'm not ashamed of the word of God. But don't let them make stuff up that's not true. Hey, let them say they've got good families. They've got obedient children. The men love their wives and the wives love their husbands and they love their children and they're raising respectful children. Hey, let them look at our conduct and not have anything to accuse us regarding our conduct as we shine our light. Because a fruitful Christian is one that shines his light, the glorious gospel, the soul wedding aspect, but it's also one that has a lifestyle to match it up. It's one that has nothing to hide. This means that we should live a life of personal integrity. This means that we should live a life of honesty. This means that we should live a life that is open to scrutiny, that we live a life that is blameless. Not perfect, but blameless. Go to Matthew chapter 10. This also means this idea of not having anything to hide not only does it mean that we should shine our light in regards to the gospel. A fruitful Christian shines his light and a fruitful Christian has nothing to hide. That doesn't only mean in regards to our personal lives. But it also means this, that we should have nothing to be ashamed of in regards to the Word of God. Now I want you to notice it because we saw it in Luke chapter 8 where he says that nothing that is hid, nothing that is set in secret is going to stay secret. He said it's going to come out. Now in this context in Matthew 10, I want you to notice how Jesus expresses that. Matthew 10, 26. Now in one context, because these are phrases that Jesus used often throughout his ministry, nothing covered that shall not be hid, nothing revealed that shall not be known. In one context, we can apply that to sin. And look, the Bible says, be sure your sin will find you out. The Bible says that everything we do is naked and open before the eyes of the Lord. The eyes of the Lord run to and fro through all the earth, beholding the evil and the good. And you young people, you better remember, you say, my mom's not watching, my dad's not watching. Well, God's always watching. And you better be sure because your sin will find you out. But here in this context, I want you to notice that there's a little different of an application. He says, Then he says this in verse 27, And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. You say, what is he talking about? Here's what he's saying. He's saying there are many Christians out there who have, now some Christians are ashamed of the gospel. They're ashamed to even preach the gospel. They're ashamed to even shine their light in regards to just preaching salvation. And the answer to that is what Paul said, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. So we should not be ashamed of the gospel. But there are other Christians who, they say, I'm not ashamed of the gospel, but I'm ashamed of everything else the Bible says. You know, there are some churches out there who are hoping no one will ever find out what the Bible actually says about homosexuality. Like there are churches out there, like pastors, they know, you know, what the Bible says. They've read the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, but they're just kind of hoping, you know, they just want to put this front up like, well, we love everybody, the gospel for everybody, and they're just kind of hoping that that part will never get out. But you know, Jesus said, What I tell you in darkness that speak ye in light, and what ye hear in the ear that preach ye upon the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body. So see, you see, because people often say to me like, can't you guys just preach the gospel, preach the gospel, and not preach all this controversial stuff? But look, they go hand in hand. It's all the word of God. We're supposed to not be ashamed of the gospel message, but we're not supposed to be ashamed of any message that the Bible says. And look, at Verity Baptist Church, I'm just here to tell you, we love it all. We love the entire, everything. You know, we love John 3.16, but we also love Genesis 19. We love Psalm 23, but we also love Judges 19. You know, we love Romans 5.8, but we also love Romans 1. We're not ashamed of any of it. We like all of it. We like the word of God. We don't just, look, we preach the stuff that's nice and good and the gospel, of course, and the death, burial, resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the fact that there's forgiveness, but we preach all of it. We're not ashamed of any of it, and we're just going to shine the light. You say, what about when the media picks up your preaching and cuts it all up and puts it in these clips out of context? I still like it. Even when the word of God is taken out of context, hey, I still like it. It's still good. It's still the word of God. Go to 1 Peter. Go back to 1 Peter, chapter 4. 1 Peter, chapter 4. See, if we're going to be reproached, let us be reproached for the cause of Christ. 1 Peter 4, verse 14. 1 Peter 4, 14. If ye be reproached, if ye be reproached for the name of Christ, the word reproached means to be spoken evil against, to be spoken badly about. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, notice these words, Happy are ye, for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you. On their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. Notice what he says. Here's the difference, verse 15. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on his behalf. Here's all I'm saying. If I'm going to go to prison, hey, let me go to prison for preaching the gospel. Let me go to prison for preaching the word of God. Not go to prison because I was driving drunk. Do you understand? Not go to prison because I was robbing a bank. He says if you're going to be reproached, hey, be reproached for the name of Christ, and when you are reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye. He says it's a good thing. Go to Philippians chapter 2 if you would. You're there in 1 Peter. Let me go to Philippians, Philippians chapter 2 and verse 15. See, a fruitful Christian is one that shines his light, and a fruitful Christian is one that is not ashamed of the Bible, is not ashamed of the word of God. He's going to live his life in such a way that he's above reproach, and then he's going to live his life in such a way that he would get reproached for the word of God. Philippians chapter 2, look at verse 15. Notice what the Bible says, that ye may be blameless and harmless. Notice these words. These have to do with your lifestyle. This should be what categorizes your lifestyle, that ye may be blameless. What does that mean? It means that you cannot be accused of some major crime, some major sin in your life, that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God. Now, he's not saying that you have to be blameless and harmless in order to be the sons of God, but what he's saying is when you're the son of God, when you're a son of God, a daughter of God, a Christian, you know what people expect from you? To live blameless and harmless. That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God. Notice, without rebuke, you shouldn't have to be rebuked. You shouldn't have to be like David when Nathan shows up and says, Thou art the man. Thou is given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to speak against him. He says that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke. Now, notice these words. In the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world. So, see, our job is to shine our light. And look, tomorrow is Fourth of July. We're celebrating Independence Day, of course, and the founding of our nation. But you say, well, what are we supposed to do as American Christians? Here's what we're supposed to do. We are supposed to live in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation and shine as lights. We're supposed to be a light in the midst of a perverse nation. You say, how does that work? Look at verse 16. And look, I feel like I can't turn anywhere without the Bible just consistently saying the same thing over and over. You say, how do you shine the light? Notice verse 16. Holding forth the word of life. He says, holding forth the word of life that I may rejoice in the day of Christ and I have not run in vain, neither late nor in vain. You say, what is the Bible teaching? And to be honest with you, I'm not feeling that great today. And sometimes I feel like when I'm preaching and I'm not feeling great, I'm not sure if I'm making sense or if this is communicating properly. And if I'm not, I apologize to you. But let me just try to be real clear. Here's the job of a Christian, to take the word of God in a soul winning aspect and hold it forth. This is the gospel. This is what God says. You can be saved. God wants to forgive you. You don't have to die and go to hell. But then also to take the same word of God and say, and here's what God says about your marriage. And here's what God says about your life. And here's what God says about sanctification. And here's what God says about holiness. And here's what God says about the way you are living your life. We're supposed to hold the light, both the gospel and everything else God says. And you say, you know, well, how are you going to rescue America? Soul winning and sanctification. That's it. See, our nation people say, well, why do you have to preach against the fornication? Why do you have to preach against Hollywood? Why do you have to preach against Disneyland? Why do you have to preach against rock music? Why can't you just preach about the love of Christ? Hey, because they need all of it. They need the gospel message and they need to know that their sins will destroy them. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Righteousness exalted the nation. Oh, just preach the love of Christ. No, no, they need all of it. We're supposed to stand blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. So we'll preach the gospel and preach against alcohol. We'll preach the love of Christ and preach against mini skirts. We'll preach the love of Christ and preach against nakedness. We'll preach the love of Christ and preach against drugs. We'll preach the love of Christ. Hey, we'll preach all of it. I'm not ashamed of any of it. I'm excited with John 3.16 and I'm excited with Leviticus 19 and 20 and 18 and all of it. It's all good. Look, our job is not to try to make the Bible more user-friendly for this society. Our job is to say, like, this is what the Bible says. Take it or leave it. It's not up for debate. God doesn't care what you think. This is what God said. This is what the Bible says. Go back to Luke chapter 8. Luke chapter 8. See, the church that says, we preach the gospel but we never preach against sin, they're not shining the light. The church that says, we preach against sin but we never preach the gospel, they're not shining the light. Shining your light is both preaching the gospel and preaching everything. See, the great commission is this. Go ye therefore into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. But then it also says, teaching them to observe all things. We're supposed to teach them all of it. They're supposed to learn all of it. And by the way, that's why at Verity Baptist Church, my goal is to preach the whole counsel of God, is to teach you everything the Bible says, because you need all of it. You need it all. I need it all. We need to hear it. And you say, well, I've already heard it. Well, you know what? We need to hear it again and again and again and again, because we're forgetful people, we're stubborn people, and sometimes we need to just be reminded. We need it all. Luke chapter 8. Look at verse 16. No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed, but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light. We saw, number one, that a fruitful Christian shines his light. Verse 17, for nothing is secret that shall not be made manifest, neither anything hid shall not be made known and come abroad. We saw, number two, that a fruitful Christian will have nothing to hide. Like you notice, thirdly tonight, look at verse 18. Take heed, therefore, how ye hear, or whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken, even that which he seemeth to have. Here's point number three tonight. A fruitful Christian is entrusted with more. You know the Bible teaches that God is an investor? And God is always looking for a good investment. Here, the Bible tells us, whosoever hath, to him shall be given. By the way, God's not a socialist. He doesn't say, whosoever hath not, to him shall be given. He says, whosoever hath, to him shall be given. And whosoever hath not, it gets even worse, from him shall be taken, even that which he seemeth to have. See, God's in the business of one thing, the Great Commission. And he is interested in you and I producing in the business of the Great Commission. And God says, if you're not producing, I'm going to take the resources that I've given you, because I want those resources working towards my goal, working towards my desire. Luke chapter 13, look at verse 6. Luke chapter 13 and verse 6. I just want you to understand this concept of God the investor, God the businessman, the way that God sees and allocates resources. Luke chapter 13 and verse 6. He spake also this parable. A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came and sought fruit thereon. Here are the key words. For an investor, here are the key words. For a businessman, he came and sought fruit thereon and found none. And you could write next to that the average Christian. Look at verse 7. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, behold, notice what he says, behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, notice the words again, and find none. And here's what God the investor says. Cut it down. Cut it down. He said, what is that referring to? It is not referring to losing your salvation. Remember, this is a parable. Remember, we talked about this morning, don't let parables turn into doctrinal theology. When he says cut it down, he's just saying, I'm done with this. I'm done investing into it. Notice what he says. Cut it down. Here's the reason why. Why, cumbereth it the ground. The word cumber or cumber, cumbereth means to hinder, means to inconvenience, but even more than that, it means to overload or burden. It means to tax a resource. What he's saying is this, the farmer who's portraying God here, he says this tree is planted on my property and my ground has resources. It has nutrition. It has water that this tree is using up. And I don't mind that as long as the tree is producing fruit. But this tree, he says, has not produced fruit for the last three years. So I'm going to cut it down. Cut it down. Why cumbereth it the ground? It's taking up useful space. It's taking up useful nutrients. It's taking up space that a fruitful tree could use. Look at verse 8. And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it and dung it. Notice that God doesn't just give up on people flippantly. He says, well, let's work with it. Let it alone this year also, till I shall dig it about and dung it. And if it bare fruit, well, and if not, then after that, thou shalt cut it down. Do you understand that God is looking for fruit? He's looking for something, someone that will produce. Go to John 15. This is taught all throughout the Bible. John 15, look at verse 1. You're there in Luke. Just go to John. John chapter 15, verse 1. John 15 and verse 1. I am the true vine. This is Jesus speaking. I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me, don't miss it. Jesus is the vine. His Father is the husbandman. You and I are the branches. The branches are connected to the vine. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Look at verse 6. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered. And men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. Again, that's not losing your salvation. That's what people would do. That's what a farmer would actually do with branches that aren't producing anything. He'd just tear them off and throw them in the fire. They're worthless. And what Jesus is saying is that, look, he's an investor. Now, I don't know about you, but if I were you, I would try to figure out the way to be the best investment for God so that God can continue to invest in me, so that God can continue to invest in you and our church and our family. Notice again, look, God, when he's not getting the fruit he wants, he says, I'll dung it, I'll work with it, but if it's not going to produce the fruit that I want, I'm going to cast it forth as a branch, and I'm going to throw it into the fire. Now, when we do produce, look at verse 2 again. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. You say, well, how do you do that? And look, this is the part I'm telling you. I did not write the Bible. God just goes over this stuff over and over. So how do you produce fruit? Look at verse 3. Now ye are clean through the word, which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, Jesus is the word, and I in you, as a branch cannot bear fruit of itself, excepted to abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me ye can do nothing. See, and it goes back to this idea. God says, I want you. We talked about it this morning, and you said this sermon sounds a lot like this morning, and look, it's just the Bible. I don't know what to tell you. But here's what Jesus said. I'm the vine, you're the branches. I want you connected into the vine, because I want fruit. Now when you're connected into the vine, you're going to get a lot more than just the fruit that I'm getting. I want the fruit, but you get the nutrients. Without me, you can do nothing, he says. That's not just talking about producing fruit. I can't live a happy life without Jesus. I can't be a good husband without Jesus. You can't be a good wife without Jesus. We can't raise children that love God without Jesus. Hey, we need him for everything. We need to be connected to the vine for everything. Do you understand that? He wants us connected so we can produce fruit, but you and I should want to be connected for all the other benefits. Because God is an investor. Luke 16, look at verse 10. Luke 16, verse 10. Luke 16, verse 10, the Bible says, He that is faithful in that which is least, Luke chapter 16, verse 10, He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much, and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. See, God wants to invest. Go to Matthew 25, Matthew 28. We'll look at a couple more verses and we'll finish up. Matthew 25. Look at verse 28. God invests in people that are good investments. Matthew 25, verse 28. I'm sure you've seen this before. This is the parable of talents, but he teaches the same concept. Matthew 25, 28. Take, therefore, the talent from him. I won't take the time to go through the whole parable of talents, but if you remember, each of them had a certain amount of talents. They didn't all have the same amount of talents. They were not all expected to produce the same amount of talents, but one was lazy and did nothing. And in verse 28, we're told, Take, therefore, the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents, for unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance, but from him that hath not shall be taken away, even that which he hath. God is interested in investing in people that are a good investment. Go to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2. You're there in Matthew, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts. Acts chapter 2. You say, Pastor Jimenez, I don't understand. Can you apply this more practically? Allow me to try it. When I tell you that the Bible teaches that God is an investor, God wants to invest in something that's going to give him returns, what you need to do in your life is ask yourself, Am I a good investment for God? You say, For what? For anything, for God's blessings, all of it. Here's an example. If I was a business owner, I'm not. I'm a pastor. I run this church like a business, but I'm in ministry. But our church is filled with business owners. I think we have 15 different business owners in our church. If I was a business owner, you know what I would do? If I were a business owner is you start off, you know, coming to a church like this, and you start having the blessings of God, and God blesses you. Again, one of the reasons we have so many business owners in our church is because I'm constantly telling guys, they're like, I don't know what to do. I'm like, start a business. I don't know, my job's not that great. Start a business. You live in the stinking United States of America. Literally anyone can start a business and make money. I mean, my 14-year-old and 12-year-old sons literally started a flyer delivery business, and they just started making money. I mean, people are just asking like, hey, can we hire you? And I'm just telling them like, no, they don't have enough time. And then grown men are like, I can't find a job. And I'm like, really, because my 12-year-old found a job? Really, because my 14-year-old created a job for himself in America? So I'm constantly telling people, just start a business. You know, start a business. That's why you have so many business owners around here, one of the reasons we have. But you know, here's what I wouldn't do. I wouldn't start a business while I'm reading my Bible every day, praying every day, being faithful to church every week, soul-winning every week, praying that God would bless my business and then God blesses my business and tithes from that business and help the church and be a blessing in that way. And then as my business grows and as my business grows and as my business grows, get distracted by the business. And now all of a sudden, I'm too busy to read the Bible every day. Now all of a sudden, I'm too busy to pray. Now all of a sudden, I'm too busy for church. Now all of a sudden, because here's what God's looking down. God's saying, I didn't bless that business so you could drive a nice car. I didn't bless that business so you could have a nice house. I didn't bless that business so you could buy nice clothes. I don't mind you living in a nice house. I don't mind you driving a nice car. I don't mind you having nice clothes. You can have that as a benefit of the fact that you started a business and I'm going to bless it so you can finance the work of God. But God says, if you're going to walk away from the work of God, then you're going to also walk away from my blessing. I'm just telling you, if I started raising my kids for God in a church like this, and I started homeschooling them, and I started teaching them right, and then as they got older, I'm like, well, I've got some pretty good kids. I guess we don't have to go to church anymore. No! The point is this. Whatever God has already been doing in your life to bless you, keep doing that. In fact, do more of it. Become a better investment. Look, you say things are going good. Praise God. Keep doing what you're supposed to be doing. Wake up every day and say, hey, God, I am an investment worthy of your investing. Bless me, help me, guide me. I'll put your agenda first, and you help me with my agenda too. See, God invests in people that are good investments. People tell me, my life's messed up, my finances are a mess, but things aren't going well in life. And I say, well, what are you doing to further the cause of Christ? Do you understand? God is the boss. We're the employees. I'm reading a management book right now, and in the management book, it talks about the fact that employees and employers have different agendas in the secular world or anywhere. Obviously, that's the case. Employees say, oh, praise the Lord, it's Friday, I got a day off, where the boss is like, I wish I had another day that I could get more work out of this guy. That's just how it works. Bosses don't take days off. Employees are like, give me my day off. But a boss is always trying to push his agenda, and employees, they got their little agendas. What's going on? They got a date night. They got this. They got that. Your boss doesn't care about that. He just wants you to produce results. Let me tell you something. God is your boss, and he doesn't care about your little this or your little that. He wants you to produce results. Now, he doesn't care if you get this and you get that, as long as you're producing results. But make sure you stay an investment worthy of his investing. God invests in people that are good investments. Acts 2, 47, are you there? Not only does God invest in people that are good investment, God invests in churches that are good investment. Acts 2, 47, praising God and having favor with all people. Notice, and the Lord added to the church daily such as should be seen. You know, I believe that God brings certain people to our church, and God brings certain people to different churches. I believe that God does that in his providence because he's an investor. I believe that if we, if you say, what's one of your goals at Verity Baptist Church? One of my goals at Verity Baptist Church is that we would be worthy of God's investment, that God would look down at our church and say, there is a church that is putting to work. I can bless them financially. I can bless their attendance. I can bless the resources. I can bless them because I know that they're going to get done what I want done, what I need done. And in the process, God says, have a Fourth of July picnic, but not at the expense of soul winning. He says, have a homeschool group where you go on these fun field trips, but not at the expense of the preaching of the word of God. See, God says, I don't mind if you have fun with all this other stuff. Just get done what I want done. And then my blessing will overflow into all these areas. But you know, here's what happens, and we talked about it this morning, is that God begins to bless, and God begins to bless a church like ours, and God begins to bless a life like yours, and we get distracted with the overwhelming blessings of God. And we forget to keep the main thing the main thing. The goal is God. The main thing is Jesus. I am the vine, and I am to stay connected. So don't get choked by the cares of this world. Don't get distracted by those things. You say, well, God's been blessing. Praise God. Keep doing what you were doing when He started blessing you, and He will continue to bless you, and He will continue to help you. Go back to Luke chapter 8. Look at verse 16. You say, how do I become a good investment? No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed, but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light. Number one, shine your light. Say, what does that mean? That's talking about the gospel, and that's talking about your personal testimony, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Verse 17, for nothing is secret that shall not be made manifest, neither anything hid that shall not be known and come abroad. We need to not only shine our light, we need to have nothing to hide. We need to live a life of purity, blameless and harmless, and not only should we not have anything to hide in our personal lives, but we should not hide anything in the Word of God. We should not be ashamed of anything in the Bible. Look, I'm not embarrassed by it. People say, what about when the Bible says this about... You know, anything the Bible says is good. I understand people take things wrong and they apply things wrong, but you know, I'm not ashamed of anything the Bible says. I'll stand with the Bible every day, any day, against anything our society says. I don't care what part. People will say, well, what about this part in Ezekiel? I don't have to read it. Whatever it says, it's good. I read this part in Zephaniah, it's good. Now, if somebody tells you about a part in Hezekiah, you might want to be careful there. But, you know, be careful about those books. But if the Bible says it's good, verse 18, take heed therefore how ye hear, for whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken, even that which he seemeth to have. A fruitful Christian will have God's investment in mind, and God will continue to invest. And here's what I'm telling you, here's what I'm telling you. Don't stop doing what you were doing when God began to bless. Because God didn't bless you because He likes you, although He loves you. God blessed you because you're producing fruit. You're producing what He wants. So let's keep giving the boss what he wants. And then God will give us the things that we desire as well. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your word, thank you for these simple verses. Lord, I know they're simple and I don't know, my mind's foggy and I'm not sure if I'm communicating these things as clearly as I'd like to or maybe as I normally would, but I pray you'd help us to learn it. Help us to remember that we are here to please you, to give you what you want. We were created for your pleasure. And in return, you bless us and you allow us to have all the benefits of all those blessings. But help us to keep the main thing the main thing. Help us not to get distracted by the blessings and forget that the goal is God. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray, amen. All right, well, we're going to have Brother RJ come up and lead us in a final song. Just one quick final reminder. Don't forget, tomorrow, 4th of July picnic, 3 p.m., the address is there for you. If you're not yet signed up for desserts or side dishes, you can do that in the fellowship, excuse me, in the main foyer. And ladies volleyball, men, if you're going to play softball, bring a glove. Kids, water balloon fight, so just be ready for that. And then just tonight, I think we've got some guys that are loading up tonight. So if you want to help with that, you can see the staff guys. We've got lots of stuff that needs to get loaded up. And then tomorrow morning for cleaning, if you're free to clean and you'd like to come help, please, you can be here at 10 a.m. or talk to Brother David about that or Brother Sha, and I'm sure they would appreciate your help. If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know. We'll have Brother RJ come up and lead us in a final song. Amen, let's grab our sound books and turn to page number 349. Song number 349. Comforter has come. Song number 349. Let's sing it out on the first. Oh, spread the tidings around Wherever man is found Wherever human hearts When human bones are found Let ev'ry question sound Proclaim the joyful sound The comforter has come The comforter has come The comforter has come The home is from heaven The father's promised gift Oh, spread the tidings round Wherever man is found The comforter has come The long, long night has passed The morning waits at last And rush the gentle wail In the fury of the glass I show the golden hills The day and the new year The comforter has come The comforter has come The comforter has come The holy gift's been had The father's promised gift Oh, spread the tidings round Wherever man is found The comforter has come Lo, the kings of kings With healing in his wings To ev'ry captive soul The food the lemon springs And to the baking cells The son of giant rings The comforter has come The comforter has come The comforter has come The holy gift's been had The comforter has come Oh, spread the tidings round Wherever man is found The comforter has come See it out on the last Oh, boundless love divine How shall this tongue abide To want your mortal self The master's crazy mind That I had traveled round To shoot in his image shine The comforter has come The comforter has come The comforter has come The holy gift's been had The father's promised gift The tidings round Wherever man is found The comforter has come Amen. Can I have brother Johnny would you dismiss this way to wear a player? Player. God, we thank you for your church, thank you for your salvation, thank you for the message of our priest. Help us to further service our lives. Help us to walk in integrity and shine our light before men. Thank you for the gospel. Help us to have a good day tomorrow in this state. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.