Hope is Greater than Fear in the COVID-19 Crisis!

Hope is greater than fear today, brothers and sisters! Hope, and not fear. I don’t know about you, but I’ve felt the anxiety lately. Just being locked up at home, can’t go to the gym, can’t go to fosters or books and beans, or go out to eat, or get my nails done, well maybe not the last one. But its kind of suffocating to just sit at home wondering what’s going to happen next.

I want to share this scripture for you today, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.”

From Jeremiah 17:7-8

7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.

8 They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

Anxiety is not a proper response to this situation. Concern and compassion is the proper response. Don’t be afraid. But have trust in God. Have faith in God. Decide that your God is with you. Complete that in your mind.

And honestly I don’t feel anxious really, but I almost feel like I can feel the anxiety of the community around me. And I kinda feel like its just a climate of anxiety right now.

A lot of people in the world today rely on their own abilities and talents, fundamentally. It’s about them, their ability to hold on, and their ability to control and manipulate events to their advantage. That is the way of the world. And that is the way a lot of people live. Me vs. everything else.

And if that is your approach to life, you will be anxious and afraid,because it’s all up to you to not get sick.

As believers that is not how we approach life. It’s not up to me and how I can force events go my way. Ultimately my world is run by God.

Did God send the covid-19 virus? I don’t believe that. God allowed it to happen. He doesn’t jump in and prevent these things from happening. But He does help and guide and protect his church through these kind of storms. And we can have faith in the struggle.

And maybe this time of quarantine and isolation is a time God is calling us back to himself. Maybe He is saying, America, Michigan, Owosso, you’ve relied on your own strength and your own wealth and your own morality too long. And look how useless your own strength and wealth and morality is in the face of even something as simple as a virus like covid-19? Look how all your power is useless against it. “

We’ve lived for so long in the united states, in Michigan, relying not on God but on money, and psychology, and medical science, and modern technology. But life is about much more than those things. None of those things are bad. But when we rely on those things above God, we’ve gone down a road that leads nowhere good. And many have a faith in that, that those things will get them through the storms of life. But they won’t.

Only God is enough to get us through these dark times. And in quarantine and isolation I think we all start to realize that. No amount of scrolling through social media, or videogames, or frantically reading news articles or watching tv satisfies us. We just kind of quietly sit there as emptiness takes over in our souls. And we feel the meaninglessness of these things, and the fear that these things can’t really save us or help us.

So that’s why we have to use this time right now to turn back to God. Pick up that Bible and read it for a while. Get down on the floor and cry out to Jesus Christ for help during this struggle. Visit Youtube or sermon index and listen to some sermon messages. Go on biblegateway.com or the you version app and read or listen to an audio Bible. View some Christian movies on Netflix or Hulu. Take some time to explore faith in Christ.

Because we all need a savior. Believe me, this corona virus is not the worst thing that could happen in this world. And indeed in the end times, in the future at some time, much worse things will happen. And when those times come, we will want to make sure that our sins are washed away by the blood of Jesus.

So I want to tell you a bit about that right now. So let me just ask you some questions:

1. Have you ever put something first in your life ahead of God? That’s what the Bible calls a sin. And you will be held accountable to that standard by God on judgment day.

2. Have you ever used God’s name as a cuss word? Or shouted it when you were angry? Again, that’s a sin.

3. Have you ever failed to treat your mom and dad with respect and love?

4. Have you ever committed adultery?

5. Have you ever hated someone, which is murder in the heart?

6. Ever stolen something?

7. Were you ever jealous of someone who had something you didn’t have?

These are God’s eternal laws. And if you’ve broken any of them, you are under judgment. Which means, if you were to die today, you would be brought before God, he would judge you as having sinned against heaven and your fellow humans, and you would be sent to a place of darkness, fire, and sorrow forever!

I know, this is amazing and scary news. Maybe we didn’t even realize that we were considered accountable to these laws. But now that you know, and you’ve seen your guilt, let me tell you about what God did to remedy this situation.

God came as Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ is Lord, so God came, 2000 years ago, and he lived a perfect life. And then he allowed himself to be sent to the cross by evil people. And on the cross he was perfect, yet he took your sin, and paid the penalty for you. So that if you believe in Jesus Christ and follow Him your whole life, then you’ll be born again, and you’ll become a whole new person.

You will essentially become the person you were always meant to be. That’s what happened for me.

Once we realize and believe in Jesus, our sins are paid for, by what Jesus did on the cross. That is God’s arrangement for you, to deal with your sins. They are removed and put on Jesus on the cross. And Jesus said yes to that arrangement. Jesus died once for all for sin, and then he reclaimed His life.

Jesus is alive right now. Which is why I talk to Him and pray to Him and how he continues to help me and deliver me.

So if you will choose to believe in Jesus, then your sins are washed away, and you are born again. Of course you must also repent, which means turn away, from your old sins of the past, and live differently. Sometimes that’s the hard part for people, they don’t want to give up their sins they do right now.

But believe me it’s worth it. And remember, all of us will stand before God on judgment day, and have to answer for how we lived. Do you want tobe judged n that day by the ten commandments? Or be judged on Jesus Christ being your savior.
On that day I want to be able to say, Lord, I did sin, but I have a savior, Jesus Christ, who came into the court room, and said, I’ll take the penalty for those sins instead of Justin! And on that day God will say very well,that is the arrangement I set up, therefore come into paradise, into the news heaven, and new earth, a perfect earth, in a new city called “The New Jerusalem” or “the new city of God.” That is our destiny everybody. That is the meaning of life. To enter into the gates of new Jerusalem. Where there will be no more sickness, no more covid virus, no more social isolation, or sin, or temptation. You are destined to go there, and to live there forever, and never die. But if you refuse God, and reject Jesus, there is another place, of darkness, sorrow, and pain where you will be sent. So choose life today, choose jesus, so that you and your family may live. Live forever.

Blessings during this Corona virus lockdown. Please pray and pray and fast and pray, and read the word, and stand firm, and DO NOT BE AFRAID! Amen!

At the Foot of the Cross We Have All We Need

God has given each of us all that we need, in Jesus Christ, in his death, and resurrection, in His Spirit, and His presence with us on the roads of life, that we have all divine power. We have everything we need through the knowledge of Him, who called each of us by His glory and goodness.

That’s where we begin today, at the foot of the cross. Can you see Jesus there? Can you see him, with his hands and feet pierced? Can you see the Son of God offered up for you? Many have tried to imagine it. Some have tried to paint it. One such person was the famed painter Rembrandt.

If you were to look at Rembrandt's painting of The Three Crosses, your attention would be drawn first to the center cross on which Jesus died. Then as you would look at the crowd gathered around the foot of that cross, you'd be impressed by the various facial expressions and actions of the people involved in the awful crime of crucifying the Son of God. Finally, your eyes would drift to the edge of the painting and catch sight of another figure, almost hidden in the shadows. Art critics say this is a representation of Rembrandt himself, for he recognized that by his sins he helped nail Jesus to the cross. -Source Unknown.

It wasn’t just a far off event for Rembrandt, it was personal. He was not just an observer. Indeed, we are not just far off observers, of a historical event, the crucifixion of Jesus. It’s more than that. We serve a living savior, a God though he has died for our sins, he currently lives, and is active in our lives. He speaks to us, in our personal prayer times, he speaks to us in our study of scripture. He speaks to us when we slow down long enough to listen. He speaks during life group, during bible study. He speaks through our friends and family. He speaks when we gather for services on Sundays.

We all once delighted in evil, brothers and sisters. We served ourselves. We lived for the world. We lived for money, for pleasure, and for our own enjoyment above all else. But now we serve something greater. We serve a great cause, the cause of the salvation of the world.

Yes in our day and age many reject God, and don’t want anything to do with Jesus. But still Jesus holds out his hand to this lost world. He is very patient with us. He was very patient with me. Holding out his hand for years. But what matters is now I have taken his hand and walk hand in hand with him, and you’ve done the same. You’ve received Jesus Christ as your savior, and thus God has become your Heavenly Father.

It reminds me of the famous story of John Newton, the man who wrote “Amazing Grace.” Did you know that he used to be captain of a slave ship? Yet Christ took hold of His life, and so he became a completely different person. He wrote this poem… listen carefully to the words as I read it to you:

“In evil long I took delight,
Unawed by shame or fear,
Till a new object struck my sight,
And stopp'd my wild career:
I saw One hanging on a Tree
In agonies and blood,
Who fix'd His languid eyes on me.
As near His Cross I stood.

Sure never till my latest breath,
Can I forget that look:
It seem'd to charge me with His death,
Though not a word He spoke:
My conscience felt and own'd the guilt,
And plunged me in despair:
I saw my sins His Blood had spilt,
And help'd to nail Him there.

Alas! I knew not what I did!
But now my tears are vain:
Where shall my trembling soul be hid?
For I the Lord have slain!

A second look He gave, which said,
"I freely all forgive;
This blood is for thy ransom paid;
I die that thou may'st live."

Thus, while His death my sin displays
In all its blackest hue,
Such is the mystery of grace,
It seals my pardon too.
With pleasing grief, and mournful joy,
My spirit now if fill'd,
That I should such a life destroy,
Yet live by Him I kill'd!”

John Newton, 1725-1807.

Jesus died for you. Jesus died for me. Jesus was willing to do this for us. He paid our debt of sin by doing this. Each of us, added to the weight on his shoulders, so that the weight on our shoulders could be lifted. I recall how light I felt when I first got saved not so long ago. The weight on me, all that guilt and shame was gone. Gone away. I was free.

It didn’t just disappear into thin air. That isn’t justice. That isn’t how God made things to be. That awful weight of sin, all that I had freely committed went onto Jesus Christ. He took it for me, and deleted it on the cross. And if you truly believe in Jesus and follow Him and serve Him, then the same must be true for you.

Anyone can say "Yes Jesus died for the sins of the world.” Agreeing to that is not Christianity. But has it become personal for you? Have you personally said to Jesus, you have died for my sins. I believe in you. You are my savior. Not just today. Everyday. Tomorrow, and always? That is our foundation. If we don’t have Christ as savior, friend, Lord, and king then we have nothing.

Jump to verse 4 and it says, “He has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire.”

Have you ever heard of the term grafting? It’s a medical term. Often when, for example, a patient is badly burned, they will take skin from a healthy part of their body and “graft” it onto that area. And it will help heal and bring life to that area of the skin.

One might say that God grafted Jesus Christ onto us, washing away our burnt remains, because we are now dead and buried in Christ. And we have been grafted with “the divine nature.” It says. That very essence of Christ’s perfection, placed upon us.

And so we also see this imagine of escape. It almost would make you picture yourself, like the Israelites fleeing from Egypt, as God’s judgments fell upon Pharoah. Or as if you were fleeing Sodom and Gomorroh as fire and sulfur rained down onto that city.

It’s like Christ is rescuing us from a doomed city and leading us to a new place. We’ve escaped the evil of the world. But the condition of escape is that we do have Christ.

And if we do have Christ, then we have all we need to live a godly life. And that is what our scripture today is referring to. It declares, here is Christ, in you, thus, you have what you need to live a godly life. And here’s how it works. It says: verse 5 “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, 6 knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, 7 godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.”

Does it say receive Christ, and then do whatever you want? Nope.

Does it say receive Christ then be lazy? No.

IT says “Make every effort, toward these virtues. Pursue God. Get to work for God’s glory and kingdom. Do great things for God. Change the world, in Christ. That’s what the early church did, they changed the world. That’s what Jesus did. He changed the world.

And that starts in us with faith. Then goodness. Then knowledge. And of course, self control. Endurance. Godliness. Brotherly affection. And the ultimate virtue, love. Are you seeing these personality traits developing in you as a Christian? You should be. And you should be working toward them, actively.

I’ll direct you to verses 9 through 11. It says, “The person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins. 10 Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these things you will never stumble. 11 For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.”

So it’s saying, if you lack these virtues, these blessings of love, endurance, and faith and so on, you’ve forgotten your cleansing, you’ve lost your way. And we see that with some Christians, they lose their way, and fall away. But instead, we should make every effort it says to confirm our calling, because if we live according to these virtues, we won’t stumble into sin. We’ll walk rightly with Christ. Thus our entry into paradise will be secure.



Isaiah – 41:13-14,17-20 says, “ 13 For I am the Lord your God,
who holds your right hand,
who says to you, ‘Do not fear,
I will help you.
14 Do not fear, you worm Jacob,
you men[d] of Israel.
I will help you’—
this is the Lord’s declaration.
Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

17 The poor and the needy seek water, but there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I will answer them.
I am the Lord, the God of Israel. I will not abandon them.
18 I will open rivers on the barren heights,
and springs in the middle of the plains.
I will turn the desert into a pool
and dry land into springs.
19 I will plant cedars,
acacias, myrtles, and olive trees in the wilderness.
I will put juniper trees,
elms, and cypress trees together in the desert,
20 so that all may see and know,
consider and understand,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.”

That’s what I believe God is doing here. And there can be no mistake that God is bringing about the rebirth and revival of this church in Owosso. God is doing a new thing here. And if you’re here, he is calling you to be part of it. What a great honor we have to be called by God.

-Psalm 107:33-43 says, “33 He turns rivers into desert,
springs into thirsty ground,
34 and fruitful land into salty wasteland,
because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.
35 He turns a desert into a pool,
dry land into springs.
36 He causes the hungry to settle there,
and they establish a city where they can live.
37 They sow fields and plant vineyards
that yield a fruitful harvest.
38 He blesses them, and they multiply greatly;
he does not let their livestock decrease.

39 When they are diminished and are humbled
by cruel oppression and sorrow,
40 he pours contempt on nobles
and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
41 But he lifts the needy out of their suffering
and makes their families multiply like flocks.
42 The upright see it and rejoice,
and all injustice shuts its mouth.

43 Let whoever is wise pay attention to these things
and consider the Lord’s acts of faithful love.”

So we must remember, it is Him, and Him alone ,doing this in us, and in this community.

We cannot do it alone. He is the one who turns a barren desert into a lush river, and a glorious bastion, and fortress of victory over the darkness. So it shall be again, if we will fight hard, and be holy, and live for Jesus. That is our part in all this. To be faithful. A fortress can become abandoned over time. A church can die over time. A church can be reformed over time. A fortress can be rebuilt and strengthened once again. A river can turn to a desert, and a desert can be turned back to a river. Not by us, but by the Lord.

In conclusion today, it says in our scripture, verses 12-15 “12 Therefore I will always remind you about these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have. 13 I think it is right, as long as I am in this bodily tent, to wake you up with a reminder, 14 since I know that I will soon lay aside my tent, as our Lord Jesus Christ has indeed made clear to me. 15 And I will also make every effort so that you are able to recall these things at any time after my departure.” And I say the same to you today, it’s my duty to remind you of these things. Live them out. Practice them. Focus on Jesus Christ. And live for Him. 

An End Times Army Rising Up

I'm a soldier. And as a soldier my job is to obey the orders of my commanding officer. My commanding officer is the Lord Jesus Christ. And he has commanded me in the great commission: To make disciples of all nations with the living gospel of His life, death, and resurrection. Then Jesus was lifted to heaven. And he promised to return. I believe he will do just that. And he'll ask for a report on what I did while he was away. As a soldier, my job is to fulfill my orders, under penalty of death. To fail to carry out his command is to be in breach of my orders, and there is no choice, in this army, there is only do and die.

We are all soldiers in God's army. We have our mission, to conquer this world for Christ. So that is what we must do, and that is what we will do. God has only just begun to move this army to mission, to work, to sacrifice.

I believe in God's army. I believe in an army on fire for the gospel of Christ. I believe in an army centered on discipleship, on living a deeper Christian life. I believe in an excited, energized army, an army that dares to believe in great moves of God. God has not finished with this army, indeed, He has only just begun his work in this army of God.

Our mission is to preach the gospel and develop in our people the effects of salvation; discipline, passion, humility, spiritual power, and holiness of life. We can do this mighty work through our weapons of righteousness, placed before us in the word of God. We've great zeal in us for gospel proclamation.

“Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel.”

Remember what Jesus Christ our Lord has done church. Remember what he has done and tremble. Remember what he has done, to be crucified for our sins. Remember how he has conquered death. And remember that Jesus Christ is alive right now. And His return is imminent.

11 Here is a trustworthy saying:

If we died with him,

we will also live with him;

12 if we endure,

we will also reign with him.

If we disown him,

he will also disown us;

13 if we are faithless,

he remains faithful,

for he cannot disown himself.”

Have you died my friends, to yourself, your desires and wants? Do you serve Jesus first?

Are you fully committed to endure until the last day?

Are you watching for Jesus Christ each day, eagerly awaiting His return?

Are you aware brothers and sisters, that if you disown him, he will disown you?

Are you filled with faith and trust in God? Do you know that he remains faithful, even why our faith fails us?

We see a world, and a country in great struggle and in great peril. We see a world that needs Jesus so badly. And we’ve got to carry that message.

These are perilous times brothers and sisters. We live in a time of lukewarm teachings in the church. We live in a time of false teachers. We live a time of self-satisfaction. Me first, then maybe Jesus. And that is a false gospel. So we have to be just that much more careful to hold closely to the word of truth. We’ve got to love the word of God, and understand it intimately. In the books of the Bible we find the heart of God, and His love and justice. God’s word, His truth spreads through the godly. But false teachings spread jut as rapidly, like gangrene spreads, corrupting the tissue around it. So we must be careful what teachers we are listening to. And we must be very careful to test everything against the word of God. Because these are times of great deception.

But our scripture today said, “Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

That is the divide between the true church and the false church friends. That is the divide between the sheep (who hear his voice) and the goats (who do what they want first). The Lord knows his sheep, and they follow Him. The goats don’t follow Him, they follow their own desires. And everyone who knows Jesus also turns away from wickedness. That is another hallmark of the true church. They live in holiness. They have repented and turned away from their past sins, while the false church continues to live in their sins, defiant to their God who calls them to holiness.

Be the true church brothers and sisters, put God first, and live out holiness. Because I believe that though the times are dark, and things seem desperate, this will be our finest hour. These dark times are when the light of Christ shines the clearest. These are the times that great heroes of the faith are rising up to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus. We live in a time brothers and sisters that I believe are ripe for revival, for great awakening. We live in a world increasingly hungry for the truth. And they’re not getting it out there in the world or in the universities or in the public school classrooms.

We live in a time when people are so busy, so run ragged with our high tech high speed society. And people are increasingly burnt out, and they can find no joy in the petty pleasures of life. They can’t find meaning in the post-modern philosophies of our day and age. They can’t find satisfaction in the drugs, the bars, the pride of wealth or status, or worldly success. The world, our country is ripe for revival. Great awakening is needed. And we have the remedy.


But I know what your thinking. I really do. I often think the same thing. The world is crumbling. There is so much corruption, so much poverty, human trafficking, oppression, persecution, immorality, lies, abortion, corruption, and brokenness in this world. There are so many multiplying evils, what possible difference could we make? And doesn't it seem like the body of Christ has fallen asleep? Doesn't it seem like there is so little hope left?

Yes indeed. There are great difficulties ahead. But it's at just such times like these, when everything seems to be crumbling, that God loves to work to generate massive transformation! It's at times like these that we'll know through and through, bones to bones, that it was only by God's power, by Christ's efficacy that we could ever persevere forward into such darkness. We'll know that it wasn't of us, and our cleverness, but that it was by God's reality penetrating our reality, by God's miraculous designs and mercies in time and space that the tide finally turned!

It wasn't us. It was never us. And we could never do it alone. It's humbling to realize that God alone is the one who justifies, and God alone is the one who brings about real hope and real lasting change. No man can do this, but only God almighty himself. And we as humans love to try so hard to do it ourselves, to show God that we don't need him, but every time humanity fails, under the weight of darkness, and God must swoop in to show His glory and our need for Him.

Humanity wanted a world without God. That is the fall. And this is the fall. Here it is. This is the world without God. But in fact even now God still intervenes, refusing to allow our fatal destructions to be final, He still continues to hold out his hand to us and pull us from the muck and mire. He breaks our chains of sin. He pours out His love to us, and wipes the tears from our eyes as He sets us in a spacious golden valley, suits us up with his armor, his uniform, the blue, the red, and the shield, and the sword, and breastplate of Christ's righteousness, girded up in His truth, and ready for battle.


So as an army we march to the beat of a different drum. We march according to the orders of our great high commander Jesus Christ. We march according to His commands, and we are stewards of his kingdom until He returns. So we will fight. We must fight. There's no other choice. We will fight to bring the gospel to the lost on the streets of this world. We will fight in the streets, in the prisons, in the dope houses, along the red light districts, the brothel houses, the impoverished inner cities, the institutions, the houses of learning, the skidrows, the bars, the hospitals, the broken homes, and the darkest, dankest, most dismal places, where no light dwells, the great Light will shine and yes, we will fight! We will fight to the very last! We will fight in the fire and volley, we will fight! We'll never give up!

We'll return to the foundations and rally this army of God to new and greater heights than ever before. We're moving forward into a new time of blessings, a new time of energy and resolve, and a new time of revival, great awakening, and unprecedented Spiritual power. Glory to God in the highest heaven. He is with us. God is with us! We have nothing to fear. We are full of hope now, and full of life. Christ fills us. We are an end times army of God rising up to meet the challenges of our day

So we shall take the gospel out our doors and into the streets. We shall rally the church to holiness, to discipleship, to the true, real living out of this Christian faith. We must do so. There is no other choice. We've a great master to serve and we must serve Him so very well. And we will. I believe we will. I believe in you, because your the church, but more so I believe in Christ, whose church we are, and we shall not fail to be in this critical hour all he has called us to be.

Jesus is coming soon, and He must find us faithful, we've much work to do, so let us get to work, and do it for Christ. He is coming soon now. He will be along quickly. He will be here soon. Come Lord Jesus, come. May the grace of God in Christ be with all His people, His army forever, Amen.

Main Points: 

1. We are soldiers of Christ
2. The world is in crisis
3. We must win the world for Jesus.
4. False teaching is a serious issue we face
5. We must show ourselves faithful
6. Jesus Christ will return>The Resurrection>Jesus is alive
7. Until then we are His end times army

Lord Build Me in Hope

“The school system in a large city had a program to help children keep up with their school work during stays in the city's hospitals. One day a teacher who was assigned to the program received a routine call asking her to visit a particular child. She took the child's name and room number and talked briefly with the child's regular class teacher. "We're studying nouns and adverbs in his class now," the regular teacher said, "and I'd be grateful if you could help him understand them so he doesn't fall too far behind."

The hospital program teacher went to see the boy that afternoon. No one had mentioned to her that the boy had been badly burned and was in great pain. Upset at the sight of the boy, she stammered as she told him, "I've been sent by your school to help you with nouns and adverbs." When she left she felt she hadn't accomplished much.

But the next day, a nurse asked her, "What did you do to that boy?" The teacher felt she must have done something wrong and began to apologize. "No, no," said the nurse. "You don't know what I mean. We've been worried about that little boy, but ever since yesterday, his whole attitude has changed. He's fighting back, responding to treatment. It's as though he's decided to live."

Two weeks later the boy explained that he had completely given up hope until the teacher arrived. Everything changed when he came to a simple realization. He expressed it this way: "They wouldn't send a teacher to work on nouns and adverbs with a dying boy, would they?"
Bits & Pieces, July 1991.

Let me ask you this question: Have you decided to live? Have you truly embraced your own life? Or have you lost hope? Life can be really hard sometimes. And crazy things happen. We wonder if we can keep going. But I’m telling you today that if you’re here, then it’s not over yet. You still have a chance. And you can still have hope.

Don’t give up. Believe that things can be different. Believe that God can change anything. Any addiction can be removed. Any pain can be healed. It’s not over yet. In fact you’re just getting started. Now is the time to have hope. And to embrace change.

Pray my friends. Cry out to God. Go into your quiet place, in the living, in the bedroom, and cry out to God. Let your tears speak your words. Our scripture today posed the question: Is anyone among you suffering? And it answers: Let him pray.

And then it says, “Is anyone among you cheerful?” Let them sing songs. Life isn’t always hard and painful either is it? There a good times too. There are happy times. There are joyous times. I remember growing up playing in the woods,and loving every minute of it.

Are you struggling? Then pray! Very simple. But how often do we forget to pray? We worry about it. We stress. We get angry. We complain about it to our friends. We go and try to force things to go our way. But we forget to pray! Prayer is powerful my friends. In fact the word of God says “pray at all times” and “pray without ceasing” and “don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything, making your requests known to God.”

Even Jesus our savior, when he was in the garden of Gethsemane, so afraid and miserable and stressed about going to the cross that he was sweating blood, what did he do in the garden? He prayed. If Jesus had to pray, how much more should we pray when we are in need?

Then verses 14 and 15 answer the question of sick and illness. It says, “ 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”

That’s pretty powerful. If you are sick, you should have others pray for you. I often ask for prayer, sometimes I’ll ask people personally, text somebody, or I’ll even post on Facebook, here’s my prayer request, please pray! And tons of people will comment and pray for me.

But we also see this biblical practice of gathering the elders of the church, those who are in authority over the body, and then someone who is sick will gather with them, and they’ll anoint their head with oil, and pray for them, and they’ll be healed. And not only that, it says if they’ve committed sins, they’ll be forgiven. Something about the gathering of the body of Christ, brings about healing, which of course comes from the Lord himself, but God works through people. He works through us.

Now very often God will heal you when another prays for you. But sometimes he doesn’t heal us, when it’s not His will for us to be healed. I recall when it came out that Nabeel Qureshi had stage 4 cancer. A talented young apologist, with a wife and kids, about my age. At the time I prayed, and I fasted, and if you fast when you pray, it adds power to the prayer. But in any case, I fasted and prayed several different days. But God spoke to me one of the last times, and it was just clear that there was a block there. It was Nabeel’s time to return to Jesus. So sometimes we have some sort of ailment, and we’re supposed to have it. Sometimes it’s our time. But perhaps God is calling you to have another Christian or group of Christians pray for you today. Come see us about that.

Our scripture continues today: 16 [j]Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, [k]fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

And it gives this example of someone who prayed, and what they prayed for really it happened. It says,”Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.”

There have been so many times that I’ve prayed, and then God answers the prayer. And there have been times when I’ve prayed and God says, nope. Not yet. Or he just say no, not at all. His will, not my will be done. I remember five years ago I was in my hometown of Wausau, Wisconsin and I was waiting to hear back about an internship with the salvation army. And I kept praying Lord, please, anywhere but upper Michigan. I did not want to go to upper Michigan. Guess what? I got the call, and she said, You’re going to Escanaba, Michigan. And I loved it there. To this day, I love that town so much. And the people there. God knows what he’s doing.

I prayed fervently that God would help me quit smoking. And a year later I was able to quit.

I remember I prayed for a car, when I was newly sober back in 2013, and I got a car.

I remember I was working on my bachelors degree at liberty university. And I had every single class done except for the minimum math requirement. And it seemed impossible. I was going to have to take 3 math classes just to get to the minimum requirement class. But you know what I did? I prayed. And prayed. And God somehow got me through it. I petitioned the degree board, to be able to take the final class, and I was able to pass it!

I remember I was attending new day church, way back in 2013, and I knew God was calling me to ministry. But where? I didn’t know. I prayed for a long time. Where do you want me to serve? And God was so silent. I was getting very frustrated. But then bam, The Salvation Army shelter in town had an opening, and a friend said I should apply. The rest is history.

I remember I prayed right before I would go to Chicago for training college. And I said Lord I can’t possibly do this. But you can make this possible. And I survived it all, graduated, and now I’m a lieutenant.

We’ve gotta look back at how God has been faithful guys. We so often look at all the things we don’t have, and we start to lose hope. We look at everything that hasn’t changed, but look at everything that has changed! Wow!

Imagine what God is going to do in the future, as long as we stay with him. We’re people that are prone to wander away. I don’t see most of you every Sunday and that worries me. Make your faith a bigger priority in your life. That’s my job as your pastor, to call you to real faith in Christ. Take it seriously, and put real work into it. Because salvation is real. Heaven and hell are both real places, and we are going to one of them. So please take this deathly seriously. Many of my friends tend to take Christianity lightly, at least from my perspective. I don’t take it lightly at all. I have fun, I enjoy life, but I also have a deadly earnestness about the faith. This is literally life and death for me, I almost died. I was dead, essentially, in the grave of addiction, and Chris called me out of that grave.

Reminds me of that Christian rock song, and it says, “I was buried beneath my shame
Who could carry that kind of weight?
It was my tomb
'Til I met You

I was breathing, but not alive
All my failures I tried to hide
It was my tomb
'Til I met You

You called my name
Then I ran out of that grave
Out of the darkness
Into Your glorious day”

Our scripture concludes today by saying, “19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save [l]a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.” So my job as your minister is to call you from wandering, back to the truth, time and again. Don’t give up. Don’t fall away. Stay the course. Don’t give up. Keep praying. Keep studying the word. Keep seeking the face of God. And you will share in eternal life. Never give up. Keep fighting. Because there is great hope. Take heart and have hope. Because God is building us in hope. He is training us to always have hope, even in the darkest of circumstances. No more games with God though guys. No more games. No more living in sin. It’s time to live free or die. Have hope. Christ will set you free. Have hope. You will find healing. Have hope. There can be a brighter day. Have hope because Jesus Christ loves you. It’s true.