You're listening to a word from the Lord, the podcast. My name is Pastor Michael E. Tongue, and I serve as to see you pastor and Bethlehem Baptist Church right here in Paul's Valley, Oklahoma. And I'm also a co-founder of a word from the Lord Inc. When you get an opportunity, I'd love for you to visit our website at AWFTL with Dr. Michael and Kimberly E. Tongue. And you can get to know our ministry and our vision, and in short, our vision is to share the word of God with as many people as we can. And in many ways, as we can in Jesus name. So if you'd like to support our ministry, after you listen to the message and God use this message to touch and reach you in such a way that you would like to give, visit that website, AWFTL with Dr. Michael and Kimberly E. Tongue. Or call 1-855-510-1397. To announce that we will begin broadcasting on the first Sunday in June of 2023 on the now television network. It's the second largest African-American television network, and it also is a satellite also, and we're going to be broadcasting throughout Europe. I'll be heard in London, Paris, throughout that corridor, as well as all over Africa. So we're excited about joining the team at the now television network. We're calling all of our prayer warriors to begin to intercede on behalf of the television program that got. And now we're going to take you to the Bethlehem Baptist Church. It is the first Sunday of 2025, January the 5th, and I am sharing my first sermon in a series entitled How to Drive in 2025. Today's message comes from Jeremiah 17 and 8, Jeremiah 17 and 8, a message entitled Stay Connected to the Stream, Stay Connected to the Stream. And now, without any further ado, let's get into the service where we'll get into the word. Oh, that sounds wonderful, and that's the theme for this year, and we're looking to get some t-shirts that someone would want to volunteer to help us in that effort, please let me know as we write the vision down, amen, and we make it plain, as we do want to thrive in 2025. And one of the ways that we thrive is through prayer, and Rev. Russian was talking to me about prayer, he said, he heard someone say that prayer is like the stirring wheel, and you always have to keep your hands on the stirring wheel if you want to get to where you're going, and we have to remember that as a church, and we need not take prayer lightly. Jesus said, my house shall be called what, the house of prayer, if we're going to thrive in 2025, guess what, we need to thrive in prayer, amen, thrive in intercession, and Jesus name. So as I send out the list, we're going to begin on this coming Friday to begin to fast and pray on this Friday from 8am to 8pm, as the Holy Spirit leads you. And we're going to weigh heavy on prayer, because if we want to thrive, we have to pray, amen, amen, and also we're going to have our first Decons of Trustees meeting on Thursday, January 23rd at 6pm, we want you to be there in Jesus name. Also, I talk about this pastors and teachers conference, I do this as a legacy for myself to remember my bishop, who always wanted me to go and be a part of this, I didn't get to do it when he was alive, but the Lord has allowed me to go the last few years, and that's going to be January the 28th through February the 1st, so please be in prayer for that. But we want to thrive in 2025, and as I shared on last Sunday, Sister Audrey came up with this thing, and the text is from Jeremiah 17, 8, and if we want to thrive in 2025. We have to take the example of this tree, you notice something different about this tree, it's planted by the waters, hello somebody, they will be trees planted by the water that sends out its roots to the stream. It does not fear, the heat comes, its leaves are always green, and it has no worry in a year of drought, and never fails to bear fruit, and that's what God has called us to be as Christians, that's what God has called us to be as the Christian Church. And which means there is no time that we shouldn't be thriving. Let me say that again, there's no time that we shouldn't be thriving, because if you know read the context, it's about trusting in God, and you have not read the context of Jeremiah 17, read the whole chapter. But this year, it's time for us to be able to thrive, because we trust in God to survive, and Jesus' name, and I sent out this series last week to be the pastor's text, and I want you to treat it like Sunday school, I want you to read it, read the chapters, and you can get more out of it when you learn to study to show thyself approved of God. Amen? Amen. Today we're going to talk about stay connected to the stream. Stay connected to the stream. Do you please stand and reference to the Word of God? Stand symbolically saying that I will stand on the Word of God. Let's read this out loud together at the same time on three. One, two, three. We like a treaty planted by the waters that's finished out of the roots by the stream. It is not clear when he comes, it leaves all of these greens. It has no words in the year of Christ and never fails to bear fruit. Amen, and praise the Lord. Today we're going to share around three points, and I did make up a word. E.K. Bailey always said that the preacher has the right to work, make up a word. Thriveability. Thriveability is the word that I made up. Thriveability, all right? You want to thrive in 2025, you have to stay connected. The connection of the Thriveability is in the text. The condition of the Thriveability is in the text, the copiousness of Thriveability or the plenty or the fruitfulness is in the text. Christians will thrive when they stay connected to God. Notice I said, Christians will thrive because the key to the text is that it did not say that you wouldn't have that the tree wouldn't have bad days. It says that drought will come, hello somebody, but because it's connected to the source, that don't matter. Okay, and it talks, and I want to preach before I trick preach, so I'm going to go ahead and hit this video, and then we'll get into the word. I'm Jack Beck here in the Judean wilderness with a thought on becoming the tree God intends us to be. When God speaks about our relationship with him, he often uses pictures from nature, and I'd like to show you a picture that he draws from the Judean wilderness and two different types of trees that grow here. Jeremiah 17 is where I'm going to be. It starts this way, this is what the Lord says, cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands. They will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the perch places of the desert in a salt land where no one lives. The tree behind me is that tree, it's an acacia tree, and its survival strategy is to hang out here by itself. There's so little water and so few nutrients in the soil that it actually has to form a forest of one. By contrast, Jeremiah says there's another tree in the wilderness you ought to consider becoming, but blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water, the spring water in the wilderness, a tree that sends out its roots by the stream. It doesn't fear when heat comes, its leaves are always green, it has no worries in the year of drought, and it never fails to bear fruit. That beautiful picture is a picture of the one who trusts the Lord. And as I see it in this imagery, you and I really only have two choices in life, and the consequences will naturally follow that choice we make. Either we trust in the Lord and become that thriving tree by the spring, or abandon him, and become this lonely tree in the wilderness. I pray that the Lord will lead all of us to become that tree God intends us to be. Amen, and praise the Lord, amen, and praise the Lord. As we want to thrive in 2025, we have to understand the context of this text, because the context of the text is a very, very sad, sad thing that will go on. Right, right. And I thought this was the providence of God that put us here, because I'm going to send the mill of the book of Jeremiah, who's known as the weeping prophet. Y'all know why he's known as the weeping prophet? Can anybody tell me why he was known as the weeping prophet? Let me tell you. He was known as the weeping prophet because he preached, and nobody listened. He didn't have any converts. He had people who had a form of godliness, but they didn't obey the Word of God. Right, right. theologians tell us that of the 52 chapters, 47 times repentance is mentioned, and we know that they did not repent because of what? Anybody been to Sunday school here recently? Why do we know that they did not repent? Because he was warning of the coming judgment. Right, right. And they didn't believe. As a matter of fact, at times, they attacked the preacher, because he was raging against the machine. Right. We have all this, we have this impressive temple, and they said in Jesus' day it was multi-millionths. I imagine in his day it was the same, a multi-million dollar industry. They didn't have any problem with people coming to the temple, except the people didn't believe, the heart of the people there. He was a prophet to his generation. And Sunday school teacher told us that a generation, some say, is 40 years. They tell us that he preached a prophesied for 42 years, others say it was 47 years. But we know with that 40 that he was a prophet to his generation, and he did not have any body who would repent. What you're saying? That's why he was a weeping prophet. He would tell them the truth, and they'd try to kill him. Who, isn't that deep? They'd tell the truth and they'd try to kill him. Okay. Jeremiah, they didn't sell 1.4 million of his book. Anybody in Sunday school knew about it, and they didn't give away 300,000 copies of his book. Nobody wanted his book. Hello, somebody. What was there? Nobody wanted to read it. And as a result, when you get to 52 of the book, Babylon is upon them and destroying everything. Right. Kind of like what we heard. The Sunday school teacher talked about. What would happen to Herod's temple? That it would be utterly and completely destroyed. Right. Right. And this, and I looked at this, I was like, "Lord, we're supposed to be trying this." No, we're supposed to be trying this. And here are some of the kings that he preached to. You see, they ain't trying to listen. They ain't trying to hear. They were surrounded by all these different kingdoms. But Babylon was the one that finally came in and tore everything down. I was like, "Lord, now this is a bummer. This is bad, Lord." At least that's what I thought. But in the midst of all this that would happen, Jeremiah tried to give them the key. Ah, she'll thrive in. He tried to give them the key. He preached the word. Because we have so many preachers listening. I have encouraged you, brothers, to preach the word. Regardless of whether people are amen in your sermon are not preached the word. Regardless, if you look out and you see folk taking a nap on your Word, preach the word. Ah, preach the word. Ah, and also to let you know that. And sometimes I feel like, Jeremiah, because I feel like I'm raging against the machine. I talk about these mega churches that have all these people. Ah, but most of these people and mega churches don't really believe it. And I'll give you all kind of show you all kind of statistics. That's how much money they should be given. And when we do that calculation, we see that the church is full of robbers and thieves. It was that way in Jesus' day. That's why he cleared out the temple. Ah, raging against the machine. That's what Jeremiah did. One of the greatest books in the Bible that few people can read. You know why fruit people can read it? Because it's not the songs. It ain't going to make you feel good. All right, yeah. That's right. Hello, somebody. But if you read it, it'll make you bigger. Hello, somebody. And I've always said that it ain't my job to make you feel happy. Ah, doesn't make you feel good. Ah, it's my job as a pastor to show you how to be good. All right. Amen. And Jesus' name. So if you want to thrive in 2025, guess what? You're going to have to be good. All right. All right. Amen. That's what it is. You don't have to be good. You have to obey the Word of God. That's why when we took up the offering. Yeah. Hello, somebody. You have to be good. You can't rob him. You say you can fool me. Yeah. Amen. Hello, somebody. All right. Ah, but you can't fool God. He know how much you make. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. That's what you have. What much you make? Hello somebody. Hello somebody. He ain't no way that you give it on the gross or the net. Most folks would ask me, "Should I give on the gross or should I give on the net?" I said, "Which one you want to be blessed on?" Hello somebody. Hello somebody. I told you, "You want to be blessed at 2025? You have to be good." Right? And this little tree gives us... The key. The connection of drivability. They will be like a tree planted by the waters that send out its roots by the stream. They was about to lose it all. I'm in the midst of them about to losing it all. God was trying to give them the key. Oh, to being a blessed, to be blessed. The key to thrive. And the key to thrive is to be connected to God. All right. And be connected to all the things of God. Hello somebody. Be connected to the word of God. Yeah, heavenly things. Hello somebody. I think it was F.B. Myers who decided for seven years that he was going to only read the Bible by itself for seven years. He wasn't going to use a commentary on the commentary. He wasn't going to use any of that. He said, "I just want to hear from God in the best way for me to hear from God. It's hear from God." I told you last Sunday that every preacher got some sound in his message. Oh, you know what shout does? It calls high blood pressure. And a lot of folk got high spiritual blood pressure. Hello somebody. Because they don't know how to do some home cooking. Hello somebody. Then I open that word into the next to God. Oh, through his word, his word alone by the power of the Holy Spirit. Oh, if you want to thrive in 2025, you got to get into the book. You got to get into the book. I use sports as an illustration all the time. And when you get to a protein, when the first thing you want to give, when you make a team, they're going to give you a what? A playbook. Okay. And they give you a playbook and if you want to play for the team, you have to know the book. You've got to know the book. And you've got to study it because when you call a certain player, you've got to know how to know where you're supposed to be. And not only that, it's the more important to position that you have on the team, you've got to know the book part of that that I know what everybody is supposed to do. Right, right. Head on preacher man, standing above preacher man. Got to. Why you listen to all these other preachers, standing above for yourself. Why are you preaching everybody else's term and standing for yourself. It's an open book test. I'm going to say, have a fail to open tears, right, right, right. You ain't going to get me to ask this thing. I fail. Hello somebody. You know how sorry that is? I got just kid, I refuse to fail her open book test. I refuse to fail a true and false test. Yeah. Because it's got if I know the truth, I can discern what the truth is. Because I study all my lesson. Quarterbacks have to know the book. Oh, middle-eyed backers have to know every road that everybody else is playing on the team coaches have to know the book. And do you think that there's any Sunday where they step on the field of pay? And they hadn't studied the book. How are we going? Oh, yeah. Let me say that again. Oh, any given Sunday you think anybody can step on that field without knowing the other words, they studied this thing all throughout the week. Right. The book, they studied the book all throughout the week. They study, they watch them. And if you're great, that means you are great at study. Because ability just won't go just let you make it. Right. I thought to get that with ability don't set it. They don't last for long. Right. How in the world can Christians open this book when I preach it. And the next time you open the book, it's next Sunday when I'm preaching. Hello, somebody. And nobody said in the book. Hello, somebody, if you want to thrive in 2025, you have to stay connected to the stream and the best connection of the stream. Right there. Right there. It's this book. Let me say it again. This book. Yeah. It's this book. Not Bloom's book. It's not me. It's not woman. It's not another book about the book. Right. Hello, somebody. Hello, somebody. That's the book. If you want to be blessed in 2025, you won't drive ability in 2020. You've got to be connected to the book. Hey, hello, somebody. You got to be connected. I did not try to tell people. I just why I tried to get you to read through the Bible in a year's time. Why is that? Because that means you have to open that book every day and read it. Right. That's why I do that. That's why I do that. I want you to read through the Bible in a year's time. Why? That means you have to be in the book every day. It's the only book. Well, that nobody reads all the way through. All these other books, that book we heard about in Sunday school, they picked that book up and read all the way through it. And it was falsities. Hello, somebody made him rich. Hey, you look like a fool. That's what Christianity is today. Now, make your knees almost cussed. These people on television, rich. Yeah. They look like a fool. Yeah. They return to the island. Tell us about it. You don't even know if you'll give it time because you give your money away. Help us with that. And you're not connected to the book. The book can tell you like we said, it's not let's go about false prophets. Hello, somebody, but you got to be connected to the book. That's why you're going to be fooled all the time. It blows my mind when I hear people mention certain folk on television because I know these folk can't even say. Hey, you quote them. Hello, somebody. Why is that? You have no discernment because you don't know the book. You don't know the book because if you know the book, you get discerned. Hello, somebody. Whoo, you want to try? I came here. I said, love, we're going to have a hallelujah. Good time this morning. We're going to try. I got the content. I said, oh, no, no. It's going to be more sobering thoughts than I thought. Sounds one and three. He is like a tree planted by the streams of the water. Heilding its fruit and season whose leaves does not wither and prosper in all he does. One of the greatest ways that you can tell whether a Christian is connected to God is in bad time. Oh my God, I know you're right up this right here. Whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo. That's what Calvin showed about the connectivity of the church, the connectivity of the trees. Folk that will cuss you out for not going to church said, well, ah, we're going to stay home. Hello, somebody. Ah, we're going to forsake the city of the believers because I'm afraid I'm going to die. Really? When you die, don't you go to heaven? Maybe not. You're afraid to die. Maybe not. You've got this thing, this tree drought. It lasted through the drought. Didn't matter. In this life, that's why, and why so many people are food, they tell you. Oh, that God's got a blessing with your name on it. And if you engage in my ministry, you won't be blessed. Life on the pit of hell. You're going to a hard time. Guess what? Everybody in this life will go to a hard time, whether they save or not. So why are you falling away from God? Because you're going to a turbulent time. The Bible says that drought won't affect you. And you are connected to the string. As a matter of fact, it says that you'll be fruitful doing that time. You'll start giving out even more fruit. Tell us, somebody in the drought, you'll have somebody on that night where we did testimony that could say, oh, it wasn't a good time for me. Oh, but the Lord used me greatly because I was going to a sicknesser and he put me on a mountain top and a lot of folk to see me and how I experienced my trials. And they began to glorify God because I was glorifying him for the midst of my suffering, the midst of my fatties. I was glorifying God yet more even more. That's why I said on New Year's night, oh, before we got a testimony time, I said, everybody here, in 2024, anybody here go to a test. Everybody raised it. Guess what? When it was testimony time, everybody didn't speak. Well, I know some of y'all are like me. I was real shot. Wouldn't say nothing. Well, but guess what? God got a hold of me. And the cause of the goodness of the Lord. I can't share all about God. Hello, somebody. I've been telling all testimony some time. Hello, somebody. Hello, somebody. You yield fruit regardless of the season, regardless of the time most people when making and most changes are fighting my pride in the 2025 thing that they want to come to 2025 and never go to a drop. There you go. Well, no, no, no, no, no. This take says that, oh, that you can try. Oh, regardless of the time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You'll be like the tree plant by the water. It says it says you don't fear when he comes. Yes. Wow. You don't fear when he comes. New Year's is the hottest time of the preacher because you want to preach prosperity doing the New Year. Well, somebody came to me and said, Reverend, what is the Lord saying about 2025? What do you say that God has to say about us prospering in 2025? I said, I told that person, I said, oh, 2025's going to be like 2024. Well, you don't have some good times and you don't have some bad times. Hello, somebody you're gonna prosper and you might go to poverty in the same year. Yeah. Regardless of the time of the season, oh, but for the Christian, the condition is, is it no matter what I go through. Right, right. I'm gonna try. Yeah. This is what the system for COVID, I'd say, say to your neighbor neighbor, neighbor, and don't matter what I go through. I'm connected to the source. I'm connected to the stream. In 2025, it's going to be what it's going to be, but I'm going to be connected. Connected. I'm going to be connected. Hello, somebody. I'm going to be connected. I'm planning by the source. I'm not trusting in man. Oh, people were happy during the political season because their person had a chance. But when their person didn't get what they wanted them to get, they began to feel sad and depressed and lonely and alone and then depressed because of what? They were trusting in man. How can you trust somebody? I can't even win an election. Hello, somebody. And not only that, how can you trust somebody that could win an election? For ways. Oh, don't be like that Bush in the wilderness that the preacher talked about from the text in the video. Oh, out alone and alone. Don't trust in man. Trust in God. Hello, somebody. Be connected. And when some are calm, I guess what? You ain't got to worry. You have thrivability, regardless of the conditions that I go through. Isaiah 58 and 11 says, "The Lord will always guide you. He will satisfy you in a what? Science, scorch land. We're in a science, scorch land. Oh, sad to hear about what happened. Hidden New Orleans, a crazy man. A military person born in the United States, served our country. He got it to his hand. He wanted to kill. Hello, somebody. We're living in a science, scorch land. What's going on in the Middle East? Science, scorch land. Good people are dying. Science, scorch land." He says, "But he was strengthening your frame. You will be like a what? Well, water, garden. Oh, wait a minute. How can my garden be well? Water when I'm in a sun-drinks land. How can that happen? It's because like a string whose water's never filled. What? God says in 2025, "The waters will never fit." Never made it. The waters will never fit. But will you fit? All right. Will you stay connected? You can have victory in 2025. But will you stay connected to the Word of God? Will you stay connected to God himself? Will you stay connected? Oh, to the people of God, will you stay connected to prayer? Will you stay connected to giving? Will you stay connected? Hello, somebody. Will you stay connected? You want to drive? You said you want to drive them. Hello, somebody. This is all dependent upon you. And who are you connected to? You don't need to be connected to. Because they bring out your flesh. I learned that as a young Christians, I had to give up some of my friends because when I went around my friends after I got saved, I was just like a sailor. Like you tell them something about you. See, I got to get new friends. They bringing out the worst in me. There's some folk in your life that brings out the worst. Can you, you are compromising the word of God because of love. Hello, somebody. I love me some him, but does him love him some God. That's it. Because if you don't love God, you say you love people. Hello, somebody. Hello, somebody. Be not uniquely together with unbelievers. Hello, somebody, because they have influenced on your life. I believe I'm going to let you thrive. I believe I'm going to say, you tiny, you give him 10% to pass the e-time. So he can wear them fancy shoes and fancy shoes. Hello, somebody. Oh, you ain't giving my money to him. You say, yeah, you're right. I ain't giving my money to him. That's right. I'm giving my money to God. He don't even count the money. He ain't even on the bank book. I'm the pastor of the Bethlehem that shirt. I go to the bank and say, I'm the pastor of the Bethlehem that shirt. I want to see the books. They'll say, your name ain't on the list. Hello, somebody. You ain't giving your money to me. Hello, somebody. You're giving it to God. Oh, because you want those springs to never run out. Hello, somebody. Because if you want to thrive in 2025, you've got to obey. That's simple. This is prosperity preaching. If you want to thrive in 2025, you've got to obey. Completely. God has wonderful self-esteem. He ain't going to take your leftovers like other folk do. Hello, somebody. Hello, somebody. But God will. He will guide you in 2025. He will satisfy you in a certain scorched land. He will strengthen your frame that you've got to be connected, how to have a well-water garden. Wow. Hello, somebody like a sprains who waters never fail. God says he never fails. He says, I'll never leave you up to save you. That's good news with. Hello, somebody. Oh, but you said, prisoner, I feel forsaken. You feel forsaken because you're not connected. Make a plan, man. Make a plan. Hell, somebody. You said you wanted to thrive in 2025. Hell, somebody, do you want to thrive? You have to obey. Amen. And God is saying to several of us, like he said to the city of Jerusalem. Repent. Say it again. 47 times. Almost one time for every chapter in the book. Repent. Talked about the end times of Sunday school. Repent. I'm not talking about the end times of the world. I'm talking about you in times. Hell, something. Good clue. God said that you don't obey me. I'm going to destroy you. You say you messed up and you accepted him and God disciplines those who want to be loved. Whom he loves. Whom he loves. Whom he loves. He ain't disciplined those who mean love. Yeah, that's good love. Hell, somebody. We want to thrive. We want to thrive. Yeah, we want to thrive. Yeah, we got to obey. We got to stay connected to the street. The copiousness or the plenty of thrive ability. It says, God said, you're connected to me. You don't have to worry about the drought. No man. As a matter of fact, you don't have to. You have no worries. Nothing matter. In the year of the drought. What if I told you that 20, 20, 25. I think I added some numbers. 20, 20, 25. What if I say, I pronounced a drop over your life. Everybody want to go, man. I ain't trying to hear that. I don't want no drought, Reverend. But I just told you, it don't matter what the year brings. If you connect it to the source, guess what? How in the world? This is the oxymorons, what they call it. How in the world can I be in a year of drought and never fail to bear fruit? That's an oxymoron. Let me give you a good example of this. Some of you may get mad if you're not cowboy fans. I was watching the show last week, I believe it was first takes. And they began to talk about the Dallas Cowboys. One famous quarterback said that the Cowboys are irrelevant. Why are we talking about them? That irrelevant. Why are we talking about them? She looked at the books. The biggest and most prosperous franchise of not just football, of all sports, in the world. Even them soccer, they go crazy on the other side of the world. It's the Dallas Cowboys. They worked about $10 billion and they won the Super Bowl in 20-something year. Hello, somebody in a drought. Nothing they're not in the drought. If you check Jerry's big account for what? I don't know why Jerry ain't doing what he's supposed to do to help the Cowboys, but you don't realize this. All they do is win. Every Sunday, when they feel that pace, all he does is win. When it comes to paraphernalia, all he does is win. The number one franchise, the number one series, all he does is win. Mr. the drought. That's why he ain't got nothing. You can't tell him nothing. Hello, somebody. You can't tell him nothing. I'll tell you, if he's not losing that money, he might be starting listening in. Hello, somebody. But even in drought, they're still winning. Hey, somebody got sent this year. You're going to be like a Cowboys. You may not win. Get a new job, but I'm going to bless you. Where are you at? Oh, you may have to go to a divorce, but I'm going to bless you. Oh, where are you? You may have to move. I'm going to bless you in the move. Oh, you may get sick, but I'm going to bless you in the sickness. Oh, God's kiss. Oh, there's a promise of the drought. I can bless you. You can be proof in the midst of a bad time in your life. Oh, you can never fail the best fruit in Jesus. Oh, if you want to try God's way, you've got to know how to try it in the good times. You've got to know how to try it in the bad times. You've got to know how to try it in the mean of the times. You've got to know trying to try it when you're sick. You've got to know how to try it. When you're rich, you've got to know how to try it. Hello, somebody. God's kiss. Oh, I'll never leave you. I'll forsake you. God's kiss. Regardless of what happens to you in 2025. I'm going to be there with you. I'll never leave you. I'll forsake you. You can look to the heels from which come at your health. Your health comes from God. You can trust in the Lord and not in men with all your hearts and lean on to your own understanding. But in all your ways, acknowledge him. And he'll do what he'll direct your path. Some texts say he will make your path straight. You heard passing each time pray. All the time that the time will come before our son and make the rough place. It's moved. The child and the daughter of the bronze come through the iron bars. Oh, it's these as resistance. Oh, there's something this child has stopped you. Oh, you don't see the bars. You don't see the drives. Oh, but there's no stopping you. Hello, in Jesus name. Oh, you're miming a song. There's no stopping us. No stopping. Oh, no, who said this? Oh, there's no stopping us. In 2025. But the devil's going to try to suffer. He's going to try to defeat us. But if we stay connected, we're going to score. Oh, and we stay connected. We're going to be proof of your state. The next day, that's going to use you. Oh, to re-smart. Oh, not just in 2024, but to re-smart. In 2025. In Jesus name. In Jesus name, I'm out of time. All eyes closed heads about Saint Supreme. Father God, I thank you, Father, for your word. Thank you. It tells me I have the victory. I'm going to thrive. Yeah. Because I'm going to stay connected to the strength. I'm going to stay connected to you in just individual Bible study. And after I leave that, I'm going to watch the film like how the football players do and come to Sunday school. Yeah. Being Bible study. I'm going to whoa, worship you every Sunday. I will not forsake the assemblies of believers. Not just here at Bethlehem, but I'm going to be connected throughout the district, throughout the state, and throughout the world. Yeah. Whoa, because I love God. I love being around the people of God. Yeah. I'm going to stay connected to the strength. Have us Father to stay connected to the strength. Yeah. You just told us we're going to have the victory with all of this. Yeah. Thank you. All we have to do is just show up and play the game. Yeah. And even when we lose, we win. We win. Oh, and Jesus name, even when we lose, we win. Thank you. I thank you Father. I don't have to be concerned about no drought. Well, and began to doubt. That's what the devil does. He tried to give us driving our lives to get us to doubt. And when we doubt, we are disconnected from the street. Doubt, we won't shout. Who the preacher just said, if we doubt, we won't shout. Father, oh Lord, that's a great calling upon our church. And I pray Lord that we may be able to live it out, that we will continue to reach more in 2025. And that's how we thrive. As we go out and tell a loss and dying well about a savior, that they know not of. They fought out from their sins away from their sins by accepting Jesus Christ. And they become a part of this connection that we're talking about, the great stream of God. You grow them up in their fins, you mature them. Are they connected to the stream? Yeah, that's true for us. Father, they will us to be fruitful. 10 fold, 20 fold, 50 fold, 100 fold. Father, help us to stay connected to the stream. Please, please. And Jesus never is trying to divide and conquer. Help us to stay connected. Father, there may be somebody here today that do not know Jesus Christ in the gardening of their sins. Father, God, we're going to extend this invitation right now. For God showed up the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. And if you're here today and you have never accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, want to want you to slip out of your seat right now and come forth and say, I want to give my life to Jesus Christ. I want to give my life to Jesus Christ. Come on, slip out of your seats. We're out of time, but, boy, we will wait for this. Oh, we will wait for this. Come down the house. I want to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We'll wait for you to say, I accept Christ when I was never baptized. Hey, we'll wait for that too. First step of obedience. Come down the aisle and say, preacher, oh, I've never been a member of this church. I want to become a member. Hey, we'll wait for that too. Come on down. Be a part connected to the stream. That's a pivotal way to stay connected. It's the joy. Your listening to a word from the Lord, the podcast. Again, my name is Pastor Michael E. Ton. And before we leave today's program, I want to take this opportunity to let you know the greatest story ever told. The Bible says that God so loved the world that He gave is only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. And if you're listening, you don't ever remember a time, or you prayed that prayer of salvation, when you asked Jesus Christ to be in your heart, coming to your heart, where you believe that He died for your sins was buried and raised again on the third day, then today can be that time. All you have to do is pray after me or pray with me this prayer. Dear Lord Jesus, I come today believing that your God's only Son and God's only way to enter into a personal relationship. I believe today that Jesus is God's only Son that He was buried and raised again on the third day so that today I may be saved. Come into my heart, come into my life, take over my will. In Jesus name, amen, and pray. So Lord, if you prayed that prayer for the first time, you're anywhere near Paul's Valley, Oklahoma, you've been born into the body of Christ right here at the Bethlehem Baptist Church. I'm going to see you in the service this coming Sunday at the 11 a.m. service. We start at 11 o'clock, bring a family member or friend, and I'm not inviting you to church. I'm telling you to come home because you've been born into the body of Christ right here, and if you are not in Paul's Valley, Oklahoma, or driving distance, we're praying that you will find a church home. That's your priority right now. You have to find a church home. Holy Spirit, which was given to you when you pray that prayer is going to lead and guide you to the right place and in that place after the preach, preach. I want you to go down and let them know you prayed to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and you need a church home. Again, I want to thank you for listening to a word from the Lord. Again, visit our website at AWFTL with Dr. Michael Kimley-Eton.org. Get to know our vision and also there you can support our ministry if God has moved this, moved in a way that you just have to give. Visit that website, AWFTL with Pastor Michael Kimley-Eton.org. We have several ways that you can give to PayPal, PayPal.me/awordfromthelord. We have also Cash App, a dollar sign, a word from the Lord and also there are books that you can buy to support the ministry this month. We're adding or letting you making available John on the Run, which is a series that I am preaching on the word from the Lord TV. So you can get that book or secret to your best life. Visit the website and support us. We want to thank you for listening today and may God bless you and keep you is my prayer.
