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Slap them. But that's what some doctrines have taught. Sound doctrine, you have to endure it. You have to labor in it. Sometimes our people don't want to hear it. They want to hear other things. I'm not saying you can't ever say other things, but you need to have a steady diet of sound doctrine. That is the problem with the church in America right now. In 1 Timothy, it says, "take heed to yourselves and to the doctrine." Take heed to your what? Yourself. So for this to be stable, sound doctrine is the key. In them, for doing this, you will save both yourself and those who hear you. How many think it's important? Look at Titus 1.9. These are exhortations from a spiritual father to spiritual sons, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convict and to convict those who contradict. So sometimes doctrine convicts and contradicts. Ephesians 4.11, this is the one you know, that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine. And I'm going to suggest the wind of doctrine starts very calmly and slowly. It doesn't come in like a hurricane of Florida or a tornado of Oklahoma. You would know that's coming. The alarms are going off. It's a gentle breeze that's very slow. I want to address three areas, I believe, on sound doctrine. I want to talk to you about what I believe is the most important thing in sound doctrine. I want to talk to you about what I believe is for me that's helped me over the years. One is on the sovereignty of God, understanding a theology and doctrine on the sovereignty of God. I don't know of anything that has kept me more than that. We stumbled into understanding the sovereignty of God by preaching on the kingdom. Started off preaching about the church, started preaching on the kingdom. Well, if you preach on the kingdom long enough, you realize there's a king. And if there's a king, then he's got to be sovereign. And if you have a king, then he's got to be sovereign. And if you have a king, I'm going to get to this in the third part, because we're going to talk about sovereign, we're going to talk theology of suffering, and the theology of the present reign of God. Is that okay? Are you going to endure? Glenn, I came to be encouraged. I hope you be stable and established is my heart, because that matters. The sovereignty of God, to understand that, it's in our passage when God made a promise to Abraham that he would show that he does not change his purposes, that God has purposes in the earth. Doesn't he? And though there's never been a time God did not reign, when Christ was raised on high, Peter tells us that David saw the resurrection as the time that the sun would sit on the throne and reign. So since the Pentecost, Christ has been reigning. Since the ascension, Christ has been reigning, and he will continue to reign until he's put all enemies under his feet. And the last enemy to be defeated is death. So that means from his first advent to his last, until the resurrection, Christ is sitting in the heavens behind the veil, if you please, ruling and reigning in the nations now. And if I see that, it shifts things in me, because some of the most fearful people I've known have been charismatic Christians. And I've asked myself why. It's because we're sensational more than doctrinal, and the crowds will gather around sensation and not around doctrine. And we've been more interested, you know where I'm going. Don't you? In crowds than we have been the gospel. And he, James and I have been talking about this. He confirmed his word with signs following. What was the word? The gospel. We've switched the order, haven't we? We've gone for the signs, but it's a confirmation of the gospel. So some of the most sensational and fearful people I know, and some of these Christians speak of faith as if it was their own. So some of the most sensational and fearful people I know, and some of these Christians speak of faith as if it was their own. They have the power to change their own circumstances around them. So they're defeated and uncertain when they're unable to do that. They're almost superstitious. Maybe I have done something wrong, or I let this happen. I went online to hear a prophet in Warrior, Alabama, and I heard him say about COVID. People have gathered there from all over that work there. And he said, when COVID happened, the Lord told me, I'm going to take care of it. I'm going to take care of it this time, but don't you let it happen again. That poor man's responsible for the next pandemic, and yet it's sensational. Are y'all with me here? And so people flock to the sensational, but they will be shaken, and God will see to it. I've had pastors call me, Cheryl, and they're all upset. The devil's taking my church. I had a pastor call me, this local pastor. The devil's taking my church. My secretary ran off with this man, and this man ran off with this woman, and this man ran off with this woman, and this man ran off with this woman, this woman ran off with this one. Would you pray the devil? I said, Bubba, the devil's not attacking your church. Because the devil's been there a long time. That didn't happen overnight. The secretary doesn't run off with somebody overnight. God loves you too much. You understand this? It's the sovereignty of God. I've had pastors call me and say, I don't know what I'm going to do. I had 35 people. They got up, caused a division, and they left the church. He's all upset. My response is, what did God save you from? If he points out something you've got to repent of, then he taught you. And there's no way to get a pastor's attention any more than to cut off finances in the crowd. I know. I'm a living example. He knows how to sanction us. He doesn't care how long it takes for you to figure it out. He's not in a hurry. He's not in a hurry. So God selected Abraham. Now, it was his faith that responded to Abraham, but Abraham was worshipping his own people. He was worshipping his own people. He was worshipping his own moon gods and sun gods, and God initiated it. Someone stay with me. I remember coming out of the assemblies in 1986. I said to the elders, over the next ten years, we've got to wrestle with the sovereignty of God, the initiative of salvation. We've got to figure out what we believe. And so we wrestled. And I remember being over in Africa with Bill Lovick, and there was a guy on the trip that was as arrogant as I was. How many know you hate the sin that you have in other people? So if you complain about somebody's sin, I'm just kind of listening. It's true. So I saw the arrogance in him, and I started arguing with him. And the more arrogant he was, the more angry I got. And he was arguing the other side, and I was arguing the sovereign side. And we argued for about an hour and a half. It was a nice conversation. And I'll never forget, I walked out on those grounds. We were staying in one of the general's grounds of President Mobutu, surrounded and protected by the military. And I'm walking on the grounds there, and I said, God, do I even believe what I just said? That's the first time I'd ever articulated. But God was using that to begin to challenge me on what I believe. Sometimes he will take you through situations for you to own what's in your heart, to really study. So I'm patient with people on doctrines. I'm very patient. Take the next ten years. I'm okay with that. But grow in the doctrine. But I want to encourage you that in Abraham, God initiated that and tested him to see, did he not? And when Abraham went up to offer the sacrifice, what did he say? He said, the lad and I will return. How did he know that? Because we know, because Jesus said, he'd already seen my day. And Galatians 3, 8 says, because the Scripture foresaw that God would justify the nations by faith, what did he do? He preached the gospel to Abraham. What's the gospel? It's the death, burial, and resurrection. So Abraham, though he did not understand it, saw it. So he's prefiguring, Hebrews 11 says, he's prefiguring that God would raise him from the dead. Now get this picture. That's a trust in the sovereignty of God, isn't it? I saw what I saw, but I got to trust God. And then what did God, what did Abraham say? The son said, well, here's the wood and here's the fire, but where's the sacrifice? And what did Abraham say? He will provide for himself. It's not about you, Abraham. Not about you, Isaac. It's about himself. Once I understand that, I can trust the sovereignty of God. You won't get stable until you realize that he's at work orchestrating. Y'all were here two years ago. We were living in a hotel. Tornado came through and blew our house away. Not completely, but it lifted the roof three or four inches and set it back. Down on the second floor, took off a third of the roof, knocked off every door inside the house. And we're living in a hotel and no place to live for nine, ten months. It was a blessing. Why? Because I'm his, we're his son and daughter. We got a brand new floors, brand new doors, brand new remodeling. And I got a shop out of it. I didn't even know I wanted to shop. I just go out there and I stand there and I just look, oh Lord, I didn't even know I needed to shop or wanted to shop. And a brother in the house helped in that process of rebuilding to where we're able to get it done. And my wife had just said three weeks before that, if I just had a strong wind, I could remodel all the upstairs. Now there's somebody would say that was the devil. Wasn't the devil for me? Wasn't the devil for her? And even if the devil's there, he is not outside of the work of God. Come on. I have nothing to fear. Even if I make a mistake, he's bigger than my mistake. He will use the mistake for my repentance to teach me, but that's what it's about. Otherwise there's no redemption. You have to deal with why did the serpent get in the garden in the first place? If your theology can't deal with that, don't come talk to me about anything else. Cause did the devil sneak in? Did Adam lay me or did God orchestrate him in? And if he orchestrated him, we got to have a different view of God. What's about him and not about us. You would never know redemption. You would never know the glory and the attribute of what it means. All of heaven. It says that the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders and thousands upon thousand times, ten thousand times ten thousand sing worth as a lamb for you were slain and you purchased with your own blood, a people out of every tribe and nation and language. And he only, he would never be able to do that. He would never be able to be known as that. If it wasn't for that stinking serpent in the garden, you wouldn't know the attribute of God of mercy. You wouldn't be sitting here knowing redemption. The angels wouldn't, they can't understand this. They desire to look into this. They see it. You're the glory of Christ because of his forgiveness. And if you have sinned big time, hear me, God's mercy is going to be so greatly honored. For forgiving that in heaven, that you'll weep and rejoice in his mercy and all of our junk and sin and depravity will end up bringing glory to him who redeemed, redeems and forgiven. And he's gone behind the veil and that's the hope. That's the hope. So what can you do to us? Exactly. Are you getting the picture? I got to keep moving here, but I want you to get the picture. This is important for you to see. Some people say, well, if God is sovereign, why pray? My question is, if he's not sovereign, why are you going to pray? You're going to do something about it other than praying his will? That changes your whole deal. I want to get in with his will to pray. Maybe that's why we haven't enjoyed prayer. We don't know we're entering into his will. If I go to pray, Father, what is your will? And I begin to pray his will, I get a lot of energy. But if I'm in there trying to get him to change his mind, all right, I won't get in that. Everybody say doctor of sovereignty. Okay. That's your next ten-year study. Okay. Secondly, understanding suffering, theology for suffering. The Hebrew writers was writing to believers who were really suffering. You don't want to just move from Christianity back to Judaism unless you're fearful. Families were being persecuted. This whole context of everything will be shaken, will be shaken. The writer of Hebrews was writing it in the early sixties, just a few years before the destruction of Jerusalem and everything that they knew would be destroyed. Jesus had prophesied it would take place. Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, he'd already said, not one stone here shall remain on top of another. He had made it very clear. The disciples believed it because the, all of them escaped up into Pella when the army surrounded. And Jesus had told them that when you see the army surrounding, then you go on up in there. And they did pray that your flight not be in winter. You know, if it was a second coming, that wouldn't matter. It'd be a good time to get out of there. You're right. If you pray that you're not be nursing, if you're in the second coming, that wouldn't matter. It'd be a good time to go ahead and go take the whole family with you. It was about Christ. And the disciples were coming in judgment of bringing against apostate Israel that would have been fulfillment of all that the prophet said and declared beginning even on Peter quoting Joel in Acts chapter two. There's so much to be said there, but here's what I want you to see. The writer of Hebrews knew this and was writing that these will be shaken. That's why he says in chapter eight, that that which is obsolete is about to vanish and pass away. What's he talking about? The things that they'd gone back to Judaism, they had sold up the veil, back into the temple and act like Jesus had not come. The very one who had provided for them. That's why he's taking them back. That Jesus entered behind the veil. He's the fulfillment of it all. And all of a sudden they said, wait a minute. See, if I understand that, then I can understand they were under heavy suffering. And they were so, this is the standing of this. And listen to what Peter says. If this, let me, let me, before I say that, I'm not a big sports fan like some of you guys are, but how many of you know who Tony Dungy is? Y'all know him, NFL. Y'all tell me, you can tell me all of his stats, couldn't you? You can tell me all of his players. Well, you probably know he had a son. His testimony is powerful, isn't it? I think it's his third son, Jordan. I think he had a, it's maybe one of his sons, Jordan, but he probably would never live beyond two or three years old. His special disease was he cannot and could not experience pain. And at the time he tells a story testimony, his son was 25 years old. And he says, my son basically destroys himself. Since he's off something and breaks an ankle, never knows it. He said he's had seventy surgeries because he cannot feel pain. He doesn't know not to go there. There are teachers in the body of Christ that says God doesn't chasten us except by his word. But that's not what the scripture says. It says he chastened us as a parent chastens us and it's painful, but for a moment. Everybody say for a moment. But what does it do? It trains you in what? Righteousness. And so in this process of this, if I get an understanding, listen to what Peter says, okay? Because here's what the confusing is about it. Is it the devil or is it God? Right? You don't know whether to rebuke the devil, right? Well, at times it can be both. A loving father may want you to grow in an area. And so for Paul, it was, I'm giving him some deep revelation. I'm giving him some deep insight. So I'm assigning to him, a messenger from heaven. I know it bothers me too, that God assigned him a messenger. What's a messenger? It's an angel, isn't it? A fallen angel from Satan assigned. I didn't know any better which one it was. So he prayed three times. And I think he would have prayed ten times had the Lord not told him what? My grace is sufficient. That's all he told him. I would want to know more. Why Lord? I mean, you know, I mean, God said, lest he be exalted above measure, but it was assigned to him a messenger from Satan. Lest he be, why? Because God knew what Paul needed to carry the gospel without perverting it. So it would be really what it's supposed to be today. We can trust Paul's writings as the word of God. You can't handle God's glory and God's revelation working in your life. Grace exceeds character. It's only for a while. How long? Long as God is ready to uncover when he's ready. And he'll do it in God's perfect timing for his glory. Not for damage, but for his glory. Here's why it's difficult sometimes. Looks at what Peter says to elders, okay? I believe 1 Peter 5 is written to elders. It applies to all of us, but listen to elders. Be alert and sober because your enemy, the devil, crowns around like a roaring lion. Look, devour. What are we to do? Resist him. So you do resist him, right? Resist him, the devil, standing firm in faith because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same sufferings. Now, if I read that in context, the families around the world going through sufferings is being caused by Satan. Are you reading that? Now, this kind of, we want it to be either/or. We want it to be all God or no devil. But he's saying the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same sufferings and the God of all grace, wow, who called you to his, this is what it's about, his eternal glory. It's about his glory. After you have what? A little while. Don't you love the little while? Thank you, Jesus, for the little while. Not forever. Come on, somebody say it with me. But for a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, stand fast, and anchored. I added anchored. Is that scripture? So I have to understand that I have a loving, faithful father who's going ahead of me. And Jesus, the high priest, has made the way, the provision. And now we see he's saying, he will what? Restore you and make you strong. What is God after? After what you're predestined to be conformed into the image of his son. And I often say this, if I should have done the slide, on this side of the slide, if I had all of my goals, dreams, ambitions, desires, believes over here on this side, and might be a long list of them, and over here on this side, God has one. And one thing he has is that Glenn be conformed in the image of his son. And when none of these else work, this always works. And when I may be, frustrated or angry because this one's not working. This one is still working. And he's testing my heart, even how I respond when it's not working. Do I know his character and his glory, or have I judged him from a human perspective? When I hear somebody say, the God I serve would not do that, I'm saying you're exactly right, because you've created a god in your image. And A.W. Tozer says, an image created in the mind of man is worse than the image created by hand. We think we don't have idolatry, but sometimes we do not take the understanding from God from sound doctrine or the scriptures. We take it from soundbites. Most of our churches have not received sound preaching, they've received preaching. So doctrine does not come through all preaching. It's expounded. We've heard soundbites, haven't we? We've heard soundbites. So the people don't have to have sound doctrine to be established. So if God is going to establish a church in America, he's got to bring us to a point where we have to be established, right? And he will do that because he loves us too much. Paul tied this into hope. Look at Romans chapter five. He says, therefore, since you have been justified through faith, hallelujah, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, though whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. What's this? Not only so, but we also glory in... How do you glory in your sufferings? How do you do that? Because we know that the suffering produces and perseverance and character and hope does not put us to shame. This kind of hope. Because of a lack of theology of suffering, when people fall into sin and it's exposed publicly, restoration, seldom happens. It's not because the church is not willing to forgive. The sin is not the issue. It's the process of restoration that's too hard. Let me explain. I saw this in 1994 when we walked through a situation. The character that's needed not to fall, listen to this, is the same character that's needed to be restored. So it's a no-win situation because had you had the character needed for restoration, then you would not have fallen. So it's hopeless. That's why they feel hopeless. So here's why. That's verse. The suffering that you will face being restored is a suffering that you've never experienced to get the character. Where here you didn't tell yourself no all of those years. Now you're being told by other people and the public no. And the pain is so severe, you're not accustomed to that pain. So you will run from it and you'll fall. You'll fall. You'll fall. You'll fall. You'll fall. You'll find every reason why it's not your fault because that's what you did over here. How many know that truth hurts? We avoid it with fig leaves because if we can cover this up, the pain. But with the pain, you're building character, perseverance, character, and hope. Over here, you're hopeless. I've seen people so hopeless they would take their own life when it's an opportunity, but it's hopeless. How many follow what I'm saying? Because we have not taught a theology of what to do. I remember telling a brother many, many years ago, the pain that you're about to experience is the worst pain you've ever experienced. He came to me after eleven months and said, I can't stand the pain. I feel the judgment of the people. I said, you do. They're not judging you, but you feel it. You're supposed to feel it. That's part of the pain. He said, I can't take it. So how do you get established? There has to be an understanding of the sovereignty of God and understanding of suffering, the pain. I've never gotten free from it. I've never gotten free from it. I've never gotten free from it. I've never gotten anything that didn't pain me for it to be exposed. When I tried to handle it on my own, and any of y'all try to get self-deliverance? I tried self-deliverance. Alright. The third part of sound doctrine is the reign of Christ. Your anchor is in heaven because Christ is reigning now. He entered the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. This is not a future. It's now. It's a present reality. He's already behind the holies of holies. He's not waiting to reign. He's not hoping to rule, but he's currently enthroned. Can I tell you, your anchor is a revelation that Christ is sitting on the throne now. Because Christ reigns now, chaos does not win. Doesn't mean chaos won't come. Darkness does not prevail. I'm not afraid of a one-world government. We've got a fuss going on in our city over the data center. And I went and sat with our city manager while he was, city's being sued or being taken to court. I sat with him. He said, I'm not afraid of a one-world government. I'm not afraid of a one-world government. Because I sat on his side, I was maligned. And I had people come and saying, I'm sorry for your soul going to burn in hell. And you know, he was literally, and I got up to leave and a guy confronted me right here in our city. I don't mind saying it. He said, there's abomination. And I said, bro, I'm a, I'm a conservative brother. I'm a Bible-believing brother. He said, you know, it's a one-world government, don't you? Listen, if you can disagree about data center, but don't bring eschatology into it because it becomes emotional. That's where a lot of the church is right now. Any little thing that happens, they're fearful. Did you hear what's happening in the Strait of Hormuz? Yes. And I'm watching to see what God's going to do. Are you watching to see what the Antichrist is going to do? I personally think the Antichrist was Nero Caesar in the first century. Come talk to me later. I got a book about it. So I'm not bothered. By the way, you can buy the book back there. I'm not bothered. I'm not bothered. Now I'm not saying I understand everything and I'm all right. I'm just telling my framework caused me to be anchored. You understand what I'm saying? My mentality of the sovereign of God, the fact that he's forming us into his character and the fact that he's sitting on the throne, Jonathan, it does not matter what anybody does. If it's bad, I need to repent. That's good, right? I don't even have to be perfect except in one area. I got to be the most perfect repenter. If you're the most perfect repenter, you can lead. If you're not, you're not going to lead anyway. But the pressure's not on you to be perfect except in one area. I'm an example of repentance. Outside of that, you're okay. That has held me. One other thing I've got to challenge us with is prayer. Prayer is your place to have a catharsis with God, crying out to God, screaming at him, and falling in worship to him. Be real with God. Be real. I remember sitting in God. He heard me. I mean, I'm real loud. Nobody was in the building but Greg Jones. Greg Jones walks in my office. You okay, brother? I said, no. And I'm screaming to God. He heard me. I've done that more than once. It's better to tell him than ten other people. And then when you're through screaming with him, you're just broken and cry before him and bawl before him, and he heals your heart. I can go on. Some of us need some real sessions of fervent prayer and crying out to God. Don't we? Because why? He's gone behind the veil. It's already entered for us. To be able to know that prayer is the call of the church. Prayer is the birthing mechanism for everything in the spirit. Nothing can be taken place except prayer. It's birthed in prayer. Praying it out. Praying over people. Praying by the spirit. When you don't know what you should pray for, as we ought. When you don't know what ought, the spirit himself. This is valuable, guys, for leading. This is valuable for believers. When you just say, God, I want to pray. Would you pray through me? I don't know. This last week, I found myself praying over our city and travail in intercession for what? I don't know what not. Might be about some of the things I'm talking about. I don't know what not. I don't know what not. I don't know what not. But I'm interceding over the city. It doesn't matter. He knows what not. Sometimes I'll find myself praying over some of you here. Praying in the spirit. Praying in intercession. Don't know what and ought. It is a stability. It is an anchor. If you have that, you can go through anything. If I had the time to walk you through the things that God has done in and through us over the years, from just the prayer of where he called us to pray, to intercede to pray, and watch what he did. And to know, even if he's not doing it as I see it, I know I'm covering it in prayer. When the pressure gets heavy and everything is going against you and you don't know what else to do, I'm telling you, get along with God and let the Holy Spirit just pray through you and cover those situations. I think sometimes when the pressure is the heaviest is when I know the intercession is to be the strongest. And you say, what are you praying about? And sometimes I don't know. I know there's situations going on. There's something that's happening. I don't know. I don't know. And I've heard a few things. I've heard a few rumors, but I don't know. And rather than wade into that, Holy Spirit, show me how to pray and just travail in the spirit over it, believing that he's covering it. I walked out on the platform in the early nineties because we sat on the platform, I guess, in those days, you know, and I saw six key men in our church with imps, demons sitting on their shoulders. And I turned to Tommy and I said, Tommy, I just saw this. He said, what are we going to do? I said, we're not going to do anything. But pray. I started praying, started interceding, and God saved three of them. A few years ago, I'm over in Owasso campus in prayer and intercession. And I see six people being attacked by a spirit of divination, witchcraft, not because of what they had done. And I went to each one of them. And I said, I'm praying for you. One of our elders in this house, a precious brother, Dusty Smith. Anyone know Dusty Smith here? All of you folks know him? Yes. He came under for five years. He couldn't serve, couldn't get out of bed. The attack, just the motion. He came over when he heard that. And we prayed over him. And I prayed and interceded over him. He said, Glenn, I never heard anybody pray like that. We prayed in intercession and prayed over James 1 that this was a trial, but God is going to bring you through the trial. Do you hear all the teaching I just did through that prayer right there? It may not be quick, but God's going to bring you through. I said, it may not be quick. Somebody said, well, nothing happened when you prayed. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, no, no. Prayers are eternal. When you pray according to the will of God, they're not wasted. How do I know that? Revelation 5 says, and they held golden harps and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God's people, the saints. He doesn't put them on a shelf. He doesn't put them in the back room. He doesn't put them away. He brings them right before his throne and he puts the prayers of the saints, that's you and I, before his throne. And then chapter 8 says, he takes a coal off of the altar and mixes it with the prayers of the saints and he hurls it to the earth in his timing. It doesn't matter when I pray for you, if I don't see anything, if I'm praying according to the will of God, God's going to bring us through. We're praying. My wife was one of those six. Have we been praying? Has God heard the prayer? Well, Glenn, I see this time she's not feeling. Strength. But she will tell you she's getting better and she's getting her strength. But God is at work. Dusty made it through the trip. Another of the gentleman was here last night that made it through the trip. Only one of those six didn't make the trip. I don't know what God's doing. Maybe it's not over yet. But the point I'm trying to make is that prayer and intercession is the way that you can have confidence and be stable that God is at work. I wonder if anybody in this room would like to pray. Would you stand with me right now? Let's open our heart and say, God, what's this conference about? It's not about knowledge. It's about you imparting to us an understanding that you are our King, our God, our authority, the one who leads us and guides us in Holy Spirit. You empower us to pray. So Father, we pray right now. We lift our voice with one accord. We pray, Lord, by the Spirit that you would guide us. Teach us how to intercede. I ask you for an anointing upon every individual in this room, every person in this room, every individual, Lord, that they will not walk out of here the same way they came in. Lord, they will be guarded and strengthened and the work of the Spirit working in them, Father. Lord, I ask you, Father, I pray, Father, that there would be an impartation. Oh, a confidence that we will last. Lord, that we're here for the long term. God, you're not in a hurry to work us into the image of your glory. We'll be faithful to every person you've given to us. We'll be faithful when they're not faithful. We'll be faithful to the ones you've laid upon our heart. We'll intercede when nobody else is interceding. We'll pray over the worship team. We'll pray over the workers. We'll pray over the disciples. We'll pray over the team of leaders. We'll pray over every individual. Nothing will be done without prayer, Lord. Stabilize us. Strengthen us, oh God. Every capacity. Oh, in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus, we pray, Father. Oh, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, oh God. Work in your midst. Work in your midst, oh God. Work in us, oh God. Work in us, oh God. Oh, bring a stir in our hearts. A stir of your Spirit, Father. A stir in this place, oh Lord. Oh, Lord, those who've never been called into intercession and they've not known it, may they feel the sense right now of being called into intercession, Father. In the intercession. An intercession. An intercession. I know we could pray for everyone, but if there's somebody here, you say, the Lord has been stirring me in the area of intercession, and I'm not going to belabor this, but we just want to lay hands on you quickly, and we want to pronounce that. Particularly here, and you believe the Lord has been stirring you for that over you. Others can join me. It's not me particularly. I just want to acknowledge before the Lord about this, and Lord, I just thank you that you're crazy up leaders in this house and other places for the call of God of intercession and leadership, for the call of intercession in the Spirit to pray over people, to carry a burden for people. Lord, I pray as we lay hands upon these intercessors. Lord, I ask you to take Cheyenne and birth something in the area, of the house of worship. Birth something in her where she travailed and cried out, oh Lord, for a long period of time, for the lives of people and understanding. Lord, I thank you for Vonda. Lord, I thank you for her heart. I thank you, Father, for their desire to disciple. I ask you, Lord, to birth something in her fresh. Lord, let nothing be lost whatsoever, Father, in the name of Jesus. Lord, we pray over Claudia. We pray over these, Lord. I thank you, Father, in the name of Jesus, Lord. Choose something in Gamma, Lord, Gamma that will be what you have to do in him, oh Lord. Oh, thank you that they're already intercessors. Oh, oh, Lord, Lord, lay upon this couple the burden of the body of intercession like never before, that they will war in the Spirit and they will carry things in the Spirit. They will carry things in the Spirit. They will carry things. Feel free to pray for anybody you see up here. Feel free to pray for any of these that are here. We're just, we're recognizing the call on them. We're recognizing the anointing, the stir, the freshest stir in the anointing. Oh, Lord, you've used our names. Bring this thing into full fruition, Father, in a way like never before. In the name of Jesus. Oh, in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, a deep calling to deep, deep calling to deep, to war in the Spirit, to walk around and pray in the Spirit, to pray in that building. Oh, Lord, that you would cover the people. You'd bring them into a place they've never been before. Lord, you'd birth something like they've never been before. Lord, do it in your work, Father. Do it in your work, Father, in this house. Thank you, Lord, that Deanna goes around praying all the time. Lord, cause there to be impartation to others in this place, Lord. Lord, in the name of Jesus. Lord, let there be an impartation of intercession, an impartation of intercession. Nothing be lost, Father. Nothing be lost, Lord. In the name, in the name. Oh, generations, generations, generations, generations, generations, generations. Oh, Father, generations, what we pray now. It goes on beyond us. It goes beyond this life. Lord, prayers are eternal. These moms that are interceding, Lord, I pray that they would know that their prayers, when they enter into prayer, it does not go away. Nothing goes away. You use those prayers in your timing. Lord, you keep them before your throne. They're not only eternal, but they are sanctified. They are received. Oh, Oh, Oh, Guys, he's birthing something in all of our hearts. It's okay that you're not down here because he's doing it in all of us. Even as I'm praying for them, I'm sensing it in my own self. He's birthing it in all of us afresh. He's stirring it in us afresh and anew. Thank you, Father, God. Oh, Lord, show us where we've stepped aside from the burden of intercession. Show us where we've stepped aside from the burden of prayer. In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus, intercession, intercession, intercession, intercession, intercision, intercession. Birth it in the spirit Lord, birth it in the spirit, go beyond our efforts, our human efforts, birth something in the spirit Lord, if it's of you, it comes through the prayer of intercession, it comes through the birthing of something in the spirit Lord, in your timing and in your way, oh Lord, pray over every one of these churches, every one of these congregations, we bless Lord, we pray pray over the leaders and the elders Lord, I pray you raise up in these congregations people who will intercede for their elders, intercede for those who shepherd them, intercede for those who teach them, intercede for those who labor in the word and doctrine Lord, that we who marry focus as elders Lord, there's so many things so many meetings that have to take place so many people we have to check on so many people we need to follow up on so much work that needs to be done so much building that has to take place so much oh Lord, I pray Father you help us to come into order to where we labor in the word in prayer Lord, we labor in those areas so the fruit is among the people that they're stable in the things of you oh Lord, we release people in every area Lord, release people in every area, Father in the name in the name of Jesus in the name of Jesus Oh, ler most might things I know Oh, now God Lord, I pray you raise up I work up I find use and then before you I am Lord, I believe I am Lord now I believe first in all I will tryin' to as I did I will show the Lord try to brandish let God use and work for me a word to come forth during the worship. And when he had said, he had said that right before he said that, I said, I feel like there's a word that needs to come forth. And he had said, if there's a word that needs to come forth, would you share it? And I didn't share it publicly, but I shared it privately to Josh about Thrive Church. And then I told Glenn last night, and then I was thinking about it, and I just wanted to release that over Josh and Stephanie and Thrive Church. Thrive Church. Simple word, but it's more about what we're speaking into, isn't that right? But then as I begin to think about it, this is what I just feel God saying, that at Thrive Church, you're going to build a big flagpole, and people are going to say, wow, how'd you build that big flagpole? And you'll simply say, it's because of the foundations. And then I begin to think about that flagpole and what flagpoles represent. This is a funny illustration. It's almost goofy, but... My kids like to play Mario. Yeah, all the charismatics think I'm the devil. And if you know about anything about Mario, as you go through the worlds, they have these little flagpoles. And when you go through the flagpole, if you can reach the flagpole, you get bigger. You power up. And then also the flagpole lets you know that you're getting into the next, the bigger world. And so I just encourage you over Thrive Church, and especially those of you who are here today, a part of Thrive Church, you will be a part of Thrive Church. And so I just encourage you over Thrive Church, you will be a part of building that flagpole. But it's nothing special, it's just the foundations. It's good. And how do we build the flagpole is that we go deep in the foundations and we see God erect it. Amen. Amen. So bless you. Good deal. Yeah. Yeah. Go ahead. Lord, let's just stretch your hands towards Josh and Stephanie. Father, we thank you for this couple, God, that has truly sacrificed. God, I remember a few years ago when they said, we're going to go. Yes. Lord, Derek and his wife said, we're going to go. And they said, we'll give them a place to live. God, you've provided everything because it's your work, God. We thank you, Lord, for this precious couple, God, and those who are around them. And Lord, what you are doing in Thrive in the kingdom there at Altus, God, we bless them today in the name of Jesus. Church, let's pray. Lord, we lift up a blessing, God. We lift up a blessing, God, as you're building this flagpole, which is you in the foundations. God, we lift up the work of God and in their family and all their children, God, in all their family and extended family. Lord, we know that you're doing it. We partner with it today, and we in the kingdom say yes to what you want to do. God, birth it in their hearts greater and greater. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. My, my. Very good. Well, last night when Glenn was in the church, I was in the church. I was in the church. I was in the church. I was in the same thing. I felt like there's been some things stirring, and I, you know, sometimes when you feel like you've let the moment pass, but I know God's word is eternal, and I was talking to the Lord and just asking him to forgive me for last night, and I thought, well, maybe I should ask Glenn, and then I thought, well, Lord, if there's an opportunity, and then this brother comes up and says, well, last night I, well, last night I. And so when we were in practice, and Joel was playing declaration, the Lord prompted me to go behind him and start praying, and so I was, you know, praying for him, but the Lord showed me that the words in that song, and that song in particular, was meant for such time, and when we were singing it, and, you know, Emmanuel, obviously God with us, but then when it came to the point where we're starting to proclaim El Shaddai and those things, oh, my word, what I saw were like these big missiles, and the Lord was just loading his word into these missiles, and where I had sung songs, you know how you can, over the people, over the city, but man, this, these missiles, the thing just went up, and it was just shooting into the, to the future, to the generations, and I saw the clouds go. And the Lord, the Lord just showed me that he was taking these words and shooting them, and in my mind, it was forty years, you know, by me, I just know it was in the future, to where DLC will be. It's like he was, he was providing and sending his word to make the provision, the way, the need, the healing, the word, the people to, to establish it, and so, then after that, you know, I was talking to Joel, and I said, you know, I know that song has a lot of purposes, but I'm telling you, it's for right now. It's for tonight. It's, it's what was there, and so, then we were back in the conference room talking, and it just, I was telling the praise team, you know, when we praise, we need to do it with purpose. That's good. And that's why I feel like I'm saying this again, is that when we, we worship, there is purpose, that when we left last night, things in the heavenlies were accomplished that wouldn't have been if we had not been standing in his throne, and going into, you know, whatever it is, and so, the Lord just was telling me, you know, just like a missile now, you know, you load it, and you lock it, and it has a target that it goes, and it hits, and it destroys, and it does away, and it provides away, and so, our praise team, we're going to do it. Our praise is the same thing, and that these are not just words, and that when we declare El Shaddai, he loads that, and he sends it into the future, things that we will never see, just like the prayers of, you know, our forefathers provided it for us, that we have that responsibility, and I know that I'm guilty, and Lord, forgive me for not stopping and taking the time, but I want to encourage us all, especially when we're gathered for such a moment. With people from all over the world, that we do not take this lightly, the prayers that are prayed, and the songs that are sung, and we prayed over the songs, and the mixture of the incense of each one of us, each one of our flavors that he mixes together is that sweet aroma that he wants for such a time as this, and so, Lord, I know we can't miss a moment, because you don't even, time is of nothing, Lord, we are in, and so, Father, just take, take us where you want us to go, Lord, and I thank you, Father, that even when in our humanity, we feel like we missed it, you let us know that you are bigger than our mistakes, so, Father, thank you, Lord, just personally, thank you that you did this for me, so I could feel like I had not blown it past irreparable. Alright, isn't that great? You may be seated. You may be seated for just a moment. David Sheridan, we'll go to a break here, and just, as soon as you get through, come on up here, and just, he just sent me a little word this morning, and to Ron, about your word last night, Jonathan, of what the Lord spoke, and I think it's good sometimes for us to hear that, and we'll come back for our session with Cheryl. So, last night, whenever the video started playing, before Jonathan went up, God was already stirring me, and this last year's been a season in our lives, and I'm not going to lie to you, but I'm going to say this, when I heard about the theme being anchored, and I saw the anchor, like on Pastor Glenn's shirt, I was taken back to February of 2025, when Coastal Chapel, Pastor Ron and Aaron, had started a series at our church called Committed, and I remember we were all in, and we were committed, it had an anchor right on the shirt, three times across, it said, Committed, Committed, and we were talking about how committed are you? Are you committed to the call? Are you committed to the work? Fast forward, ATI happened. And what I've learned about ATI is it's a place where you've got to check yourself before you wreck yourself. You know, and I really got to thinking, as this whole message was going on, but with this anchor, I thought about, man, this past year, I really felt like I'd been shipwrecked, and I'd been out to sea just drifting, and God blended our church with LifeSpring, which is now Kingdom Life, and this has been a season where I've got to tell you, I was bit by the bitter. You know, I said, God, I'm going to give you one year, because at Coastal, we always said, give us one year of your life, and I said, God, I'm going to give you one year. Well, next month, it's one year, and we're here at ATI, and God spoke to me last night. God said, David, I've committed lives in the kingdom that I've called you to. I named the church Kingdom Life because there's life in the kingdom. I don't know how to make it any clearer to you, but you're where I planted you. You're anchored, and when I heard this message, whew, it took me a while to get it right. It took all I had, and I thought, you know, God, for this season, I've hurt, and when I had that bitter bug, Pastor Dan would call me and say, hey, David, can you do announcements? Sure, I got you, and all I thought in my head is, I got one year. I got one year. Hey, can you lead a men's group at the encounter on Fearfully and Wonderfully Made? Sure. It's all within twelve months. I got you. That's all I thought. Literally, this is what I was telling myself internally, and it was a season. I remember when Coastal was posing. That season, and my wife says, we got to take all this stuff for Coastal Kids, and I'm like, why? I only got twelve months. You know, the whole time. I'm like, oh, great. Here's more stuff in my garage. I'm not going to be able to use it. We're bringing all the Coastal Kids stuff, and so we go in, and my wife's like, I don't know. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I'm so used to, you know, going to church. Maricia had conversations, and we're like, you know, we'll stand back, and Pastor Ron used to always say something about, you know, I always thought I could be the best usher at Christ Fellowship, and I thought, twelve months, and I'm going to be an usher. I'm going to be the best usher at Christ Fellowship, and that season, God has worked on me, but last night, Jonathan, when you were sharing, and you said, focus on what God is establishing through the shaking, God spoke to me so much, and he reminded me that we're connected, and it's kingdom connections, and that's what it's about, and not having been here for so long at ATI, it's been a few years, but coming in and seeing the faces and just being reminded that we... We are all here for God's purpose and his plan, and he just kept bringing things to my mind. There was this one thing that I thought about. Whenever, this is when God sealed it for me, whenever we were at Coastal, I remember Pastor Ron coming to me and Maricia and asking us to be deacons at the church, and I remember Glenn coming, and there's this picture of Glenn when we're praying, and Glenn's got his arms stretched, and he's weeping, and I thought, Lord, you planted us here. Because I've been through seasons, we gave our life so much at a church in Ohio, and God took it away and moved us to South Florida. Then we got planted in a church in South Florida, and God took that church and said, I've got a different plan, and I've learned that through all the rejection, it's really God's redirection, and I can tell you, all I thought about was that picture of Glenn, and I remembered, and I could hear him wailing in that service, and when I looked at that picture... Pastor Dan was standing right in the sanctuary, that service, and God said, David, I've been weaving lives together to build what I've got in the kingdom, and you may not see it, but it is part of my plan, and wow, I was just touched, and I thought, Lord, I don't know what this conference is going to hold, but I know who holds tomorrow, and I'm going to follow your plan. So, you got me for life. So good, man. So good. You know what? I think there's a reality to walking through life and walking through true grief and it being okay, and I think at times in the church, particularly in a charismatic, word-of-faith vein, it's like we just deny that we're hurting or that we deny that something's hard, even though it's right, and the true walking through a grief process is healthy, it's important, it's needed, and it's not a lack of trust in God. It's true. It's true grief in walking through it, and thank you, David, for sharing that. So good. So good. Aren't you, don't you just love the Holy Spirit, love the Word of God, love divine connection, love His church? I mean, wow, Glenn, that was so powerful. We could gnaw on that, I'm going to have to go back and watch that session over and over again because he said so much beyond even what you said. It's like one sentence is like fifteen paragraphs. You know, so good. Well, I'm glad I came. How about y'all? I'm glad I came. It's 10:45. Why don't we take a 15-minute break and come back in here at 11? There's some free coffee out there, and then there's some high-dollar, really good coffee. Michael Black out there, for you coffee connoisseurs, there's some coffee you can buy out there, and I think everybody knows the restrooms are down the hall there, but yeah, enjoy yourself and come back 11 o'clock. We'll get started. We'll get started. We'll get started. Holy, holy, righteous one who shed his blood, prove to us that Father's love, Jesus Christ, be lived in us. Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, only you, Jesus. Who else is worthy? There is no one, only you, Jesus. Oh, oh, oh. Is anyone worthy? Is anyone whole? Is anyone able to break the seal and open the scroll? The Lion of Judah conquered the grave, who conquered the grave? He's David's root. He is David's. He is David's root. He is David's root. He is David's root and the Lamb that died to ransom the slave. Is anyone worthy? Is anyone worthy? Is anyone whole? Is anyone able to break the seal and open the scroll? The Lion of Judah who conquered the grave. He is David's root and the Lamb who died to ransom the slave. From every nation and tribe Every nation and tongue He has made us a kingdom and priest of God To reign with the Son Is he worthy Is he worthy Is he worthy of this Yes He is He is He is He is worthy Yes, he's worthy He is He is Yes, he's worthy Yes, he's worthy Yes, he's worthy worthy of praise, so worthy of praise, so worthy of praise. And I exalt thee, sing we exalt thee, we exalt thee, we exalt thee, oh Lord, we exalt thee, we exalt thee, we exalt thee. Oh, Amy said that the presence of God fell on that Hampton Inn foyer sitting out there on the sofa. When I said, did he say it? I said, you're pushing me. He said, no, no, no, no, I'm pulling you. And I always start my messages with a salute to Ken and the great cloud of witnesses. I was married to the greatest man I have ever known in the earthly realm. I mean that with all of my life. I mean that with all of my life. I mean that with all of my life. I mean that with my heart. And even in his transition to heaven, which was exactly, I think, 370 days ago now, June 3rd, 2025, my desire to honor who he was by who I am becoming today. Thank you, Jonathan Cook, for that incredible message last night. And thank you, Glenn, for that message this morning. That was beautiful. So the theology is all okay, and now you're just going to get me and a little bit. And I grew up with my dad was a pastor. My mom and dad were pastors for over fifty years in the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. I grew up on the front pew by myself with my brother. I have a brother two years younger than I am. And then I have a brother and sister thirteen and fourteen years younger. Yes, I'm the older one. I'm the oldest. But in that first time of ministry, my mother played the piano, my dad did the preaching, and we sat on the front pew. So, you know, kids, there was no children's church. And every once in a while, we'd get into a fight on the front pew in a very small church. One time, I looked up. I think my brother had pulled my hair, and I smacked him, something like that. And I looked up. All I saw were my dad's two legs. I looked up, and he said, do I need to remove my belt? Nope, you do not. We were taught to behave in church. But sometimes kids forget. I'm telling you that story because my life has been within the church and learning about the kingdom. I thought it was interesting, Glenn, speaking on the sovereignty of God. I've been praying, God, would you teach me more about your sovereignty? Because that is what I am leaning on. Is this better? Thank you. I want to say thank you to Glenn and Amy. I want to start with a gratitude and thanks. Glenn came up to sit with Ken probably maybe two weeks before he transitioned to heaven. Amy released him. And of course, when he walked in, I can still see it now. Ken was sitting on the chest, laying on the chess field. And I looked at Glenn, and I knew we didn't need to talk because he's been through so many of these journeys before. And I really felt Ken was going to transition to heaven, but we held on to faith till the very end. And I want to thank this body of believers that knew Ken, that prayed for him. Thank you. We stood in faith till the end. And I said, as a medical person, this is really good. God raises you up. The medical profession has to admit that it was God. There's no more excuses because you look terrible. And I said that gently, of course. He lost so much weight. I said, if you keep going, you're going to weigh what I do. And that is not good. I'm five feet. You're six. But we held on and we worshipped God till the end. Thank you. Thank you, Glenn. I had to laugh. Glenn and I laughed because when he arrived and sat in our family room, Ken said, well, I need to get some of the sons together so we can have a meeting and we can talk. And Glenn said, Ken, I just came to be with you. I just came to sit with you. And Ken would fall asleep. And you just sat, prayed together. A true friend that's also a statesman in the kingdom. Thank you, Glenn. Thank you, Amy, for your friendship. Thank you for the prayer. I am a grateful person. Am I anchored in God? Absolutely. Since my childhood. Let me just take you on a little journey of how I know Jesus. You know, when you go back in your life, you kind of guess at the ages. So my father was a pastor in a very small community, which means I knew the United Church kids and I knew the Anglican Church kids. And I hung out with them all and went to their churches to do different things. And we were not alone. We were not alone. We were not known. I went to public school where even in kindergarten, the kindergarten teacher didn't like me just because of my dad and what he stood for. But I was too young at five to know why she was picking on me. In about grade two, and I figured I must have been about seven, my mother said I could invite some kids over for my birthday. My birthday's in May and I just had another birthday. She said, you can invite a few kids. But I had had a vision. Probably a month or so before. And it was Jesus, just like our friend described yesterday, in a white gown up in heaven. I remember walking to school. No, this was a dream. And I saw Jesus and he had his arms out like this. And he said, for the rest of your life, I want you to invite all your friends to heaven, to the party. They can all come. Your job is to invite them. And I received an evangelist heart, really, at that moment. And I believed in Jesus. And I felt his presence. So I was born with a congenital kidney dysfunction, which had not been diagnosed until I was ten. In the meanwhile, specialists told my parents that I was emotionally disturbed and they just needed to be stricter, maybe give me a spanking and tell me to go to the bathroom properly during the day. And then I would not wet the bed at night. It was beginning to... affect me in that I would never go to camp or a sleepover or anything else. And then my mother met a nurse who worked for a urologist. I was quickly diagnosed at the age of ten. And that specialist, he was angry at the other specialists I had been to, but I ended up having major surgery seven hours long at the age of ten. My mother said when I came home, I was a new child. I had no more pain. When my parents came to the hospital, I was a new child. I was a new child. I was a new child. I was in the hospital at Ottawa City. My dad was crying. I was going down for surgery earlier than expected because it was such a long surgery. And I said, Dad, why are you crying? He was very close to my dad and my mom. And he didn't want to say, and they looked at each other and they're hanging on to the stretcher. Why are you up? Well, we're just concerned. No problem. Jesus is sitting on the stretcher. I feel his presence all around and I'm going to be okay. And it came from that vision of Jesus before, which is firmly, not like this, like, not like which is wiggling around. We'll see. Does this work? Okay. We have a backup if it doesn't. My awareness of the presence of God and the love of Jesus has never left me my whole life. Losing the love of my life has only increased my closeness to Jesus. And people always want to know what I'm doing. I'm doing great. I miss such a big presence in my life. And I'm realizing I leaned on him way too much. And that'll be part of the session I talk about next. What are the spiritual practices I have used to travel this journey of grief? Well, the men are probably allowed to come too if they want, but I'll speak to the women mostly. But the one thing we don't do in Canada, I don't know about the USA, but we tend not to talk about the very real things in life. One of them is death. We tend not to talk about the very real things in life. One of them is death. And what we need to talk about as spouses to each other, that we are prepared. But I thank you all for your love and patience. And let's talk about what does an anchor do? And we've heard from these people, so I won't repeat it, but an anchor keeps a ship grounded. I want to tell you a story about fishing with my father as a child. I loved him, loved to go with him, even if I wasn't allowed to talk in the boat because it scares the fish. And I love to talk. So he took me out fishing with, um, my grandfather. And this is one of my first memories when we talked about being anchored, how important an anchor is. So we all had life jackets on, thank God, because my dad took a few risks, um, to get the best fish. You know, he took us to the top of the waterfall, um, in my grandfather's boat. I don't think he ever told my mother what he did, but I remember as a child, now I'm not allowed to talk and scare the fish. And the water was, so clear, I could see the fish and I could see the logs and the stones. And I could also see the waterfall down below, not too far away. And the anchor went down and we were fine. And I saw the anchor catching into where they're supposed to go. They got a catch on something. At this time, I could see the logs. And, um, of course I wanted to ask about the fishing, but, you know, I was obeyant. You would, you did not disobey my father. He loved me dearly, but, you know, we whispered. So we wouldn't scare the fish and, um, they got a good catch. Now it's when they took up the anchor where a little bit of the fear set in. So you had to start the motor and then pull up the anchor. So we didn't go over the waterfalls and I could see the waterfalls. So, you know, there's a little bit of angst there and they're talking to each other. I said, I'm thinking, I hope the motor works, you know, like sometimes they can stall on these boats, but it worked. And then they gunned it. They brought up the anchor and then, and I could see even with the anchor up, I remember this, the boat going toward the falls, but you have to really gun that little motor and get out of there. And we made it because I'm here today. Otherwise there might have been another story to tell by someone, but I'm sure he never told my mother for sure. But I love to go with him. I did some research on what's the biggest anchor in the world and Pastor Jonathan, wherever he is. I love your little, I love that. You should try looking up all the different things about the human body if you haven't. Incredible. But think of the ocean and the molecules that he talked about last night. I was going to sleep thinking about that and just what we take for granted swimming in the water. But a large anchor for large ships. Could you show a picture back there of the anchor? One of the ones that I, gave you on the, you can't, you can't show it. Okay. That's all right. I looked up the largest anchor in the world. It is now on display in Hong Kong. And it takes a whole crew of people and the chain that holds that anchor, it's thirty-six tons, is the size of a man. Just one loop in the chain. Well, then I had to watch the whole video. I'm not going to show you that. Twenty minutes long where one of those chains let go on the boat. And I was like, I'm not going to show you that. And the thing that, you know, is wind it with, and it caught on fire because the anchor, the chain had let go. And so the chain, I'm, oh man, this is a whole job of safety. And there's a whole people that work at this all the time. And this was one of the largest floating ships in the world, this thirty-six-ton anchor. Why do I tell you about the heaviest anchor? Well, when we go through things in life that are so difficult, and this house has, you've had lots of experiences of grief and disappointment. And it seems like anyone that serves the king long enough in the house of God has disappointing, painful things happen. You need a big anchor in God. And that verse that says our anchors in heaven, wow. The other thing about anchors is if you've ever seen ships in a bay, so let's say a yacht club or a place where they park a few boats, sailboats or people's boats, the anchors are down, but they're given a certain amount of leeway so they can float around without bumping the other expensive boat, all measured. And I think sometimes God does that with us. We're anchored, but he gives us the leeway we need to grow in him. And we can go a certain distance, but he says, I can't give you a lot of chain yet. Yeah. You know, you've got some more things to learn in God before I can let you go here and here and here. And I was so glad to hear about the sovereignty you spoke on, because that's been my prayer. One of my prayers lately has been, Father, I believe you're sovereign and I'm resting and anchored in that, but I want to learn more about, thank you, your sovereignty. How do I stay anchored in God? Well, it's the word of God. And that has been shared here. At our church, we're encouraging the church to follow the Bible Recap with Terrilee Cobble, which has taken effect. She's an American, I believe, and many churches are following her. It's the Bible in chronological order. And how did she come to be who she is in God? Well, she was a worship leader, but her pastor found out she didn't know too much about the word of God. And he said, you need to start reading it. And that has led her into it. If you don't know about the Bible, does anybody here follow it? Oh, good. Oh, fantastic. So I said to my daughter, I'm tired of listening to the intro all the time. Same intro, repeating things bugs me. And the same music. So she got me the Bible Recap book, you know, so I can read her God thoughts every day. I encourage you to do that if sometimes we need different ways of reading and studying the word of God. And worship. Well, I can tell you that since Ken is not in the house anymore, and I'm not going to destroy his hearing aids, that I turn up my worship music in the house, Cheryl style, which is as loud as my speakers will allow me to put. When I used to drive my little, my first car new that I'd ever had was a PT Cruiser with great speakers in it. And I would turn it up loud and they could hear me arriving at the church. Before they ever saw me. There's something, why do I like loud music? Well, it
