Bear Creek AG

Do Not Be Afraid, Remain Faithful

Series: To the Church

Message: Do Not Be Afraid, Remain Faithful (Week 3)

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Ways to Connect:

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Duration:: 36m
Broadcast on:: 26 Jan 2025
Audio Format:: other

[ Music ] >> Welcome to Bear Creek AG's online service podcast. We're so glad that you tuned in with us today. We upload a new service every Sunday morning at 10.30 AM. So we look forward to having you tune in with us again. Here's today's message. [ Music ] >> It's going to be the best short sermon. >> Yeah, but turn your Bibles to Revelations Chapter 2, Revelations Chapter 2. I had a few announcements I was going to make, but you guys just get on your phone, get on your apps, you stay on your phone, so just get on your app and look at the announcements there. Just know that there's some mince things that are coming up. You need to be signed up for. It was in the announcements. Make sure you sign up for those. We began this series two weeks ago, and the bullet point of my introduction was going to basically be that two weeks ago, Jesus revealed himself as himself, the revelation of Jesus. He says, "This is who I am, John." The reason why I did that was because of John's place that he was at at the time, had been persecuted, bold, and oil, he had been isolated to the Isle of Patmos, and so Jesus shows up and says, "This is who I am, John. This is for you as encouragement for you. I am who I said I was 60 years ago when you and I traveled to Galilee together. I'm still the same person, John, but now I'm at my rightful place." He also did that because Jesus now being revealing himself as who he is, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, now wants John to write these letters to his churches, to the churches of Asia, seven churches of Revelation there in chapters two and three, and the reason why he was doing it, because like I said, this is a time that Jesus was assessing the churches. He was coming to these churches and he's writing these letters through John and saying, "John, write these things that I'm among the church. I'm among them, it's encouraging. I'm with them, I'm among them, but here's some things that I see, some things that they need to be noted, they need to take it. I'm assessing them. I don't know that I see what they're doing, I'm watching. I'm in the midst of them." And so through that he writes these letters or dictates these letters to John and John does it and then of course he delivers them to them. Why is this important for us today? Because if it was something that, if Jesus was assessing the churches back then, I believe he is now assessing the church today. I think he's always assessing the church. He's always evaluating the church. He's the CEO, if you'd like to call him. He's God. He bought us with a price. We don't belong to us, we belong to him. And because of that relationship with him, he has the rights to come and to evaluate, to assess us. But in it, it's never for combination. It's never to rebuke us in the sense of be out of my presence. It's more, listen, this is what my expectations are of you and I'm trying to help you see where you're at. I'm trying to help you see where you're at. Like last week at the church of Ephesus, I didn't really get to preach that message either. And so I don't know why the Lord gave it to me. I guess it was for me personally and it was, I know, but it was for us as well. But the bottom line was this. You know, a chocolate cake is not a chocolate cake without one key ingredient, chocolate. Otherwise it's just a cake. And the church is not the church of the Lord Jesus Christ if there's one particular ingredient in me that he's missing. The love, our love, right? He says, you need to return to your first love. He says, I see your works. They're wonderful. I see your doctrine, you're keeping to it. You're calling out false teachers. You're calling them out. You don't even put up with the Nickelodeon's or the Nickelodeon's. Nickelodeon, sorry about that. This slime time, the Nickelodeon's. You don't even put up with them. And maybe in a couple of weeks when he addresses that again, I can talk about what they believe. But the bottom line is he said, listen, this is my assessment. These things are great. But I got this one thing against you. You need to work on this, otherwise guess what? I'm gonna take your candlestick, your candle out of the candle off. I'm gonna remove you. And so today we was gonna look at another church, the church of Samarna. Now the church of Samarna was one of these churches we know very little about. But what we do know about this church in Samarna was that one, the name means myrrh in Greek, myrrh. If you're familiar with myrrh, that was one of the gifts that Jesus received from one of the wise men, two years after his birth. We also know that myrrh was used as kind of like a painkiller for mixing it with other kinds of drugs or things that they had back then. He could help ease the pain. In fact, Jesus on the cross was given a sponge full of something to help him. And it had myrrh, it had to stuff in it to what? Help him ease his pain. They wanted to drag out his suffering, these criminal sufferings as long as they could. So it was part of it. But the word myrrh, basically it's something that identified with death. They probably brought it to the tomb when they were gonna anoint Jesus at his death. They didn't need it. But it's associated with death. And as we look at this church, like I said, I'm really, God, you guys got to really pay attention and keep up with me here, okay? 'Cause I don't have time to preach the whole message in 50 minutes, so, okay? No size, no laughs, okay, good. I got 50 minutes, there was no kickback from that, all right? But it was a resident of medicine, but it's associated with death. And if you look at this church, as you look at the history of this church, and even at the message that Jesus has, you're gonna find out that death, pain, and suffering is attached to this church. It's what identifies this church. Pain, suffering, and death. And so you may say, what does this have to do with the healthy church? The whole purpose of this message series was to help us evaluate ourselves. Are we where God wants us to be? Are we where Jesus wants us? The one who purchased us, the one who brought the church, the one who personally brought this church into existence over 80 years ago. And that's called you to be a part of it. Why does that have to do with us? 'Cause we wanna be a healthy church. I wanna be a healthy church. A healthy church is productive church. A healthy church is a discipling church. A healthy church is reaching the loss. Healthy churches involved with their community. The healthy church isn't backbiting, fighting, and divided. We're united, we're loving on each other, we're caring for each other, we're looking out for each other. That's why a self caring church. That's what I believe is a healthy church. And he's the one who gets to decide that, see? So what does this have to do with a healthy church? Because if you really go through this, you're gonna find that Jesus finds nothing wrong with this church. Man, would that be true of us today? If he were to show up right, what he has showed up, if he would come in right now, manifest in the flesh and come and speak to us, I would love to him say, you know what, Tony? You guys, Bear Creek, you're perfect. I'd like no fault with you, wouldn't that be awesome? I would love that, thank you Lord, we're doing so right. But I don't know if that would be true or not, I don't think it would be. But that's what he finds here with Samarna. So he offers some insight into their situation. And it's important that we understand it. There's no correction here. He's talking about pain, suffering, and persecution, but it's not because of anything they've done. 'Cause sometimes we think when things bad happen to us, it's because our somebody else, we don't ever say that about ourselves. Somebody else, if you go, well, they're walking in sin. Oh, they're not doing something right. They're not sold out to the Lord. That's why all of this is happening in their life, right? That's what we think. And it wasn't for punishment. What we're gonna read about here wasn't because Jesus was punishing them. God was punishing them. Now, what we're gonna find is actually this idea of pain and suffering and persecution is actually a mark of a healthy church. We don't like that though. But when you look at why they're being persecuted, why all this is happening, it will make sense. Hopefully we'll get there. Revelation, chapter two, verse eight. To the angel of the church is to murder right. These are the words of him who was the first in the last who died and came to life again. I know your afflictions and your poverty. Yet you are rich. Keep that in mind. We'll get back to that in just a minute. I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Notice that the message here, we got a little bit more to go. It doesn't get any better. I mean, it gets a better message. But the idea is that there's no indication that this is a temporary time of suffering pain and persecution. This is what you would call the environment. That was the purpose of Jesus is letting them know this is the environment. This is the situation. This is why you are at as a church, but it's because you're doing some things right. Even though he doesn't tell them what they're doing right, we know they're doing right because if you look back at history, church history in this particular church, you'll see that they're doing right. But at this point, they're under persecution. They're under pain, they're under suffering, see? The reason for that is because they're under Roman rule. And the Romans, where they had their monothesus, they had many, many gods like the Greek did. And when they went in, they conquered a nation, they would bring the people in, they had assimilated them into their culture, and they would expect these people to worship their gods, all these false gods, including the emperor. The emperor was seen as a deity. You had to worship them. You had to worship these gods, see? You could worship your own way, but you definitely had to also worship their gods. And so you see the conflict right here. We know, although he doesn't say it, we see that they weren't doing it because that was the major reason why they was on persecution because God was first. They would not, just like the Jews that were living during this time, they would not worship these other gods. They would only worship the one true God. And because of that, what would happen is, is the Roman people, the emperor in particular, if seen as rebellion, if seen as rejection. And so what they would do is if they lost a war, if pestilence came, if a famine came, they would blame the Christians. Although what the Christians, they'd blame the Christians and out of fun and sport, they would persecute them. And you've heard the stories. I won't go into details of all the things over the years of the Roman Empire, what they did to Christians and the arenas and using them to light as human torches to light the roads at night. It was terrible, crucifixion. That was invented by the Romans. So we see that. We see that they were despised because they would not give in and worship these false gods. And just like the three Hebrew men who wouldn't bow down to the idol and babble, we're threatened to be thrown into a fiery furnace. We can expect from the culture that we live in, when we reject the culture, we don't worship what the culture works. We stand up for what's right. We're gonna find out that we are gonna be rejected and persecution will come our way. See, because why? That's what a healthy church does, see. It also mentions, Jesus also mentions that the Jews played a part. He said, "Cinega, what's that all about?" These were Jews, just so we kind of get an idea. These were Jews, okay? That probably, they really weren't God fearing Jews. They were Jews by identity, by nation. Maybe at one time they may worship the one true God. They were not Christians. But in order to prevent the Romans to come against them, they became probably, we believe, most likely, informants on the Christians. They wanna take the attention to heat off of them. So they point to the Christians. They're the problem. They're the problem to find favor with the Romans. So they're lying, in other words, they're slandering. They're saying lies about the Christians. And we can see how that plays into our world today. But what I want you to focus on, not just the history, what's going on here, here's one of the major points we have to understand here, is that in all of this, he wasn't just trying to give them this information that your persecuting will be persecuted, and it seems like they would be persecuted into the future, because that would be a Captain Obvious moment, right? Don't you love those commercials? Captain Obvious? That would be a Captain. Of course, we know we're being persecuted. We're limited, Lord. So it wasn't just to inform them of that. If they acknowledge that, why would he acknowledge that? Because Jesus knows. What he was trying to say is, I know. I don't just see it, but I know what you're going through. I don't just see all the persecution. I know what you're going through. I'm aware of it. I'm there with you. I'm in the midst of you. And I don't know about you, but that's encouraging. Can you imagine this church that had never seen the living Lord? John had seen them, that they'd have, just like you and I have never seen them. They received salvation, they believed upon him. It wasn't an idea that they weren't saved, but they'd never seen him. And suddenly this letter is dictated by John, a personal letter to them. And he comes alongside and says, listen, I know where you're at. Come on, somebody right now. You need to know that Jesus knows where you're at. He don't just see where yet. He knows where you're at. He's with you in the midst. See, and I can preach a little bit. He's in the midst of you. No matter what you're going through, but definitely when it comes to persecution, definitely when you stand up for your relationship with God, when you stand up for what's right, for what's holy, definitely. When those say, he knows that and he can relate to because he went through it. He went through it. So he knows about your suffering. He knows the nature, the true nature, those who oppose you and I. He knows what it's like to be mistreated for their faithfulness to God's purpose. But what I want you to know is, he knows the truth about these believers at Smyrna. But what he does is they're not poor as some supposed, where does that come from? Well, they had been mistreated, beat down, probably had lost family because of the faith in Christ. Maybe their businesses, if they had their own business, maybe they weren't able to, that people wouldn't go to their businesses that weren't Christians or maybe they lost their jobs. Whatever their poor, this idea of being poor, being poor, maybe it's talking about poor in spirit. We know that from our Wednesday night, Bible study, poor in spirit means they're humbled. Maybe the circumstances had humbled them. So they've seen in this light, he said, listen, you're not poor as you think. You're not poor as those who are observing you that might think. No, he says what, you are rich. Matthew five, 10 says, lesson are those who are persecuted because of righteous. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Those who are persecuted for righteousness, for right things with God, for standing up for God, for not giving into their faith, not giving into the pressures to walk away from the faith. Those people who are persecuted because that, the kingdom of heaven is yours. See, there's a reality much deeper than the one of these that are slandering, these slandering Jews or these wicked Romans who are trying to snuff them out and control them. These Christians belong to the kingdom of God. And the kingdom of God belongs to them. Get the picture. If you're a believer of Christ today and you're a follower, listen, you're not only belonging to the kingdom of God, but the kingdom of God belongs to you. All those benefits, all the power, all that the word, the promises come, they belong to you because they're yesterday, men. And so we need to understand that when we're facing the trials and the tribulations of life and the things that this world throws on us because of our faith, we're not poor. Don't pour, oh, poor is being no. I'm rich because the kingdom of God belongs to me and I belong to it. See, yes, Jesus knows, he knows where the persecuted stand with his eternal kingdom. And because he knows the belief in Smyrna can be confident. Be confident of his love. If you're here today, you're questioning God's love and you don't. Before you ever acknowledged him, he died for you because of his love for you. See, you'd be confident in his strength. I can't promise you everything you're going through. He's gonna deliver you from it. I'm not gonna promise you you're not, you know, it's like the old rose guard drive. Nobody promise, you know, there's gonna be thorns at times that come with life, but you can count on his strength that he will meet you at your weakest point. You can be confident of his justice in response to your pain. They could be confident, we could be confident of his plan, even if it includes persecution and death. You can be confident of his plan for your life. Now, I don't know, it's because I'm preaching, I'm jumping around or because the Holy Spirit filled this room. You guys all energized in their life, but I'm burning up. So if one of my folks could just please turn a fan on for me 'cause I'm melting up here right now. Amen, thank you guys. Our air conditions, whatever, don't wanna freeze you out. Amen. Yes, suffering will come. In fact, for the beliefs of the morning, it had already come and apparently it would continue. Let's keep breathing 20 and 210a, first part. Do not be afraid of what you're about to suffer. More suffering was coming. I tell you the devil will put some of you in prison to test you and you will suffer persecution for 10 days. Now, this 10 days, I gotta give some direction to it because this is a prophetic term and because it's prophetic, what does Jesus mean 10 days? It means that, well, if it was only for 10 days, how does this apply to us, right? And it's the idea of was it 10 days or was it 10 days or how long was it? Well, it is a prophetic term and we know from other books of the Bible that days doesn't necessarily mean days, it can mean years, it can be span of time, okay? It also, the word 10 in the Bible also has a meaning to it, numbers have meaning of completeness. So there's some thought that maybe this was John or what Jesus was talking about here was that there was 10 periods of persecution for the Christians through the Romans, all right? Start with Nero and going all the way there was 10, 10 emperors in a row that persecute the Christians that were evil towards the Christians. And maybe that's what Jesus was talking about. We may never know until we get to heaven but there's that thought about it. But if we look at it that way, we really are missing the point. The point is, Jesus' intent is to tell them that such hardship will come and it certainly did for the believers at some point. He's saying it's coming for every period of time. If you're gonna stand up for my name, if you're gonna be a follower of me, just know that there's times that are coming, they're here and they're coming more of them, that you will be persecuted for my name sake. See, the real message here concerns their response to this persecution, not that persecution's coming though. 'Cause what was his response? He says, don't be afraid. And so that's the message to us today as I try to quickly bring this thing to an end. Don't be afraid. If you're gonna stand up for Jesus, persecution's gonna come. We may not face it like they did back then, times are different, no doubt. But human nature hasn't changed much has it? And God's plans have not, don't ever change. So we can know as we move forward, we may not be in our life facing death but maybe our children and our grandchildren, we don't know because I feel like the age of grace for our nation is coming to an end. The favoritism that has been shown towards Christians is coming to an end. We are truly no longer a Christian nation. As the foundation, as the, what's the word I wanna look for, as culture, as our morals change and what we believe is right or wrong changes, it hits us right in the face with what we believe. And there's a conflict, there's a battle coming. It's here now and it's coming and there will be a time, there will be a time where we will be persecuted. And by the way, it's happening all around the world already. I had a bunch of lists of things for time's sake. I won't, but you'd go out and Google it. You don't hear it in the news because it's about Christians. But there's Christians who are dying in nations all around this world, North Korea, Iraq, come on, Nigeria. These people are literally not just being in prison, but they're losing their life because they will not reject the name of Jesus, they will not, they will not back away from their faith in Christ. I'll give you one example, last year, young lady in Nigeria, I think she was 21 years old in university. And they had a chat room where all the students would come together and they would share, help each other out with projects and assignments and stuff like that and they had taken their final and everybody had done well and she had done really well. They said, "Hey, why do you credit for your good grade?" I mean, you did great, she said, "Jesus." I saw she posted, "Jesus." It was a Muslim country, a Muslim nation, a Muslim society. And so they came against her, told you you had to retract that. You gotta claim Ali, you can't do this as she wouldn't do it. So they stoned her and then they burned her to death. Just last year, this is real. Now, we don't see it or a nation, I know. We don't praise God, we're not seeking it. But could it? Possibly one day it could happen in our lifetime. So he says, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid." See, you need to expect persecution, but when it comes, for my sake, don't be afraid. See, see, we put our hopes in a lot of things in this country, don't we? We put our hope in our Western ideals of justice and fairness, don't we? I'm gonna be treated fair because I'm American. We put our hope in the purchase by generations before us. We're always going to be free in this nation. We trust in the documents that our forefathers penned, right? That guarantee us the right to freedom and the search for happiness and liberty and all that, we put our faith in those things, right? And if something happens, we say it's not fair and we insist we get our rights when they're afraid and we get 'em and we have this confidence that our culture, our nation, our government, our Supreme Court is gonna come to our defense, see? But we're putting our faith in the wrong thing, our hope in the wrong thing. 'Cause it will come a day, there has to come a day. There has to come a day where all this goes by the wayside and we no longer have these rights. I said I had so much more of one to add there, but just know that, but what's Jesus' point? Is that persecution will come? So don't be afraid, put your hope in me. And he says, you know what, we should expect this. You should expect persecution. Dare I say if a church is really doing what they're supposed to be doing for the kingdom, should we be expecting, pushback from the culture around us? Should we be expecting people to come and maybe boycott or pick it when we stand up for what's right? And I'm not talking about picking a fight. I'm talking about standing up for what's right at the workplace, at the school, here in our community, when we stand up for moral rights, biblical rights, there should be a pushback. We should expect that. Jesus said this on his way to the cross, John 1520. Remember what I told you, a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. You can expect it in a sermon on the Mount. Jesus told us the disciples of this, Matthew 511. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil gets you because of me. Just like the church of Samarna, rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven for the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. They did it the same thing to those who became before Jesus. They did it to Jesus, they did it to his disciples. We could expect it, we should expect it. So what's this message? I gotta bring this to an end. So what's this message to us? What might Jesus' message to this church of Samarna be to us? I think it's anticipate opposition, but don't be afraid. See, healthy church's alert and stands ready for such things conflict in the one who sees no, in other words, we have confidence in him and we should expect this because we are watchmen on the wall. We should be proclaiming the gospel of Jesus. Proclaiming the kind of judgment. Because of that, we will be rejected. We should be rejected. Or we should expect it. See, we're called to be faithful because the persecution, we should expect it. Listen to what he says in Revelation 20, 10, the second part, be faithful. Be faithful, even to the point of death. And what he says, and I will give you life as your victor's crown. Be faithful, even if it causes your life, causes, even if it costs you your life. Be faithful and you will get a crown of life. See, as I see this message today for us as a church, although Jesus found nothing wrong with that church, they were faced for the choice. And we're faced for the choice. Every day we're faced for the choice. We have two options. Will we stand for our faith in Christ? Or will we deny him in order to avoid rejection, mistreatment, persecution? What will our choice be? See, well, we may not be facing death today, right? But we face a lot of things in our lives today. Will we stand up for what is right? Or will we not be faithful and give in to avoid it? Matthew 10, 32 says this, whoever acknowledged me, Jesus says, before others, I will also acknowledge before my father in heaven. He says, but you know what? If you deny me before others, I will disown you before my father. I will, I will own you. I will reject you. I will say, I did not know you before my father. There's a warning in all of this. We have to choose which kingdom that we're a part of. The world's kingdom or the kingdoms of this world, hold no hope or answers for us today. But the kingdom of God always gives us answers and we have the hope of our future. We have the hope of eternal life. We have a hope of retaining, receiving that crown of life. So our choices today are important. Do we belong to Christ? It's your choice. Do the people in our lives know that we belong to Christ? That's a choice. Does our life reflect this fact? It's a choice. We stand up against evil. Are we willing to be identified as Christians? We may be friends, ridicule us or co-workers, reject this or we get made fun of. We stand faithful when we might be misjudged by our culture. We'll remain faithful when our rights are trampled on. These are the questions we have to ask ourselves 'cause I'm not a doomsdayer but I just know I could see it. It's obvious that the days where the church had a great influence in the government and the running of our country has come to an end. We may have somebody in the office that may be more favorable towards us than past. But the time is no longer about the Bible being the foundation of our nation and we see it. What will we do when it comes face to face with us? Does it make sense that if we are reluctant to identify with Christ now, we won't likely do much better when the cost seems higher? Right now it's just hurt feelings rejection. But what will we do when the cost is even higher? We are his. We need to remember about that. We need to remember we are his. He will vault with a price. He's gonna look after us. So, that's the question we have to face today. Healthy church is a church that's being persecuted for their faith. He didn't find any fault with them. But he said, listen, it's coming. What remains faithful? Do not be afraid. I think that's our challenge today, church. I think as we face the road ahead of us this year 2025, the opportunities we have in missions, the opportunity we have locally and ministry reaching the loss that we stand up for what's right. We stand up for biblical moral values. And we should, we better read. We should expect kickback. We should. We should. But when that happens in your personal life in your family at work, at school, young people, bless your hearts. Bless your hearts. My heart breaks for our kids. Man, that's so much more I wanted to say, but my heart breaks for our kids. Parents, you need to have your kids. You need to be teaching the word of God. You better be living it before them. Amen, you need to get them in study school. You need to get into kids' search youth. I'm telling you, we can't fix all the problems. We can't do everything for them. They probably need, but we can reinforce what you're teaching at home. I promise you, you get your kids here at church, part of our kids' small group or youth small group activity, they will be a better child. I promise you, we'll beat it into if we have to. But they need it because they're living, they're going to school. Think about how many hours a day your kids are at their public school. How many hours a day your kids are in public school? And it's not that the teachers are back, my wife's a teacher, they're not evil, although she could be mean sometimes. But it's true, the things that they're facing, because it's being accepted, they're confused. Because they're experiencing it, they're being confused. And they're going to be rejected when they stand up and say, you ought not to do that, you shouldn't say that, or you shouldn't be this way. See, they need to be here, but you need to be here. And you need to know what you believe and stand firm. Persecution is going to come though. What will we do? What will we do? Will we stand with the Lord even though our lives may be in jeopardy? Or would we give in with the hope of easing the pain? The problem is if you give in to avoid persecution, it's only going to get worse for you. And you may just lose your place in heaven. Don't deny, don't deny your faith, stand firm, amen? Father God, I thank you Lord for moving in our service God and filling those today, Lord, with your presence that needed it, Lord, those that were in dry place, Lord, it rained your spirit, rained down. For those maybe God who didn't feel it, or maybe they're here and they're wondering what happened. Lord, I just pray God, there'd be no confusion in their mind, but Lord, let them know what they were experiencing today with the living God, which is Lord, who I want to experience every day of my life. You're alive and you're well, you're among your church. Jesus, you've made it very clear, you're among your church through the form of your Holy Spirit. And I thank you that you're aware of where we are. I thank you, Father, God, Jesus, you want to correct this. You don't want us to keep going down the wrong path. You don't want us to keep wasting our time wasting our resources, Lord, and not being effective, Lord. That's why you're among us. That's why you're evaluating us. But Lord, now you're giving us the opportunity to assess ourselves to the writing, to these seven churches. Holy Spirit, help us be sensitive to what you're saying to us. Are we, hey, do we have Jesus, our love for Jesus, first and foremost, as the church of Ephesus struggled with. And be Lord, are we aware of the persecution that's coming, Lord, will we remain faithful? God, may we do so. Lord, may we know what we believe and not compromise, Lord. Well, regardless of what the persecution, regardless of the rejection that may come, Lord, may we remain faithful to you, knowing God that yes, Lord, the journey is important, God. That's the most important thing is the journey, but Lord, we also have a destination called heaven. And in that place, God, you will give us a life, a crown of life, Father. It will remain faithful to you. Thank you, God, with every head bowed and I closed. My question is that right now, if you're here this morning and you're not a believer in Christ, you're not a follower of Christ, you've never received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I want you to know today is the day of salvation. We're not guaranteed this afternoon. We're not guaranteed tomorrow. We're not guaranteed another day in this life. Only God knows our beginning to from our end. And I'm just giving you an opportunity right now if the service has touched you, the worship has touched you, how the spirit moved and ministered people have touched you. Maybe this message in some way or form or fashion has touched you to make you ask that question. Are you right with God today? Are you staying strong? Are you faithful to the call that he's placed upon your life to follow him no matter what the circumstances are? If you can't say yes today, today is your day of salvation. And I'd like you right now just to raise your hand if that's you this morning, quickly raise your hand. I want to see, I want to know who I'm praying for, every head's bowed, never eyes closed, anybody this morning. You say, I'm not ready if the trumpet should sound, if my life should come to an end, I don't know where I would spend eternity. It's okay if you're sure, I'm glad to those that are sure, but if you're not sure today, don't leave here without knowing for sure. I want to help you on a journey. I want to help you with your walk. I don't want to just pray for you. I have some stuff to give you. But that's you here this morning. (fire crackling) With that, Father, I'm going to acknowledge Lord today that everyone that's present here today knows you in a personal way. And I thank you God, that's not a bad thing. That's not a bad thing, although Lord, I'd love to see unsafe people here today to receive Christ. But Father, the fact that we that are here today are sure of our salvation, that's not a bad thing. And I thank you for our faith in you and our confidence in that. But now Lord, I just pray God that this message and all that's happened in this service today. Lord, that we just don't file it in our member bank. God, we just don't put it aside. Say, well, that was a good service. That was a good day. I'm glad I went to church. But Lord, I pray God through what you did speak through me today, Father, this short virgin, Father, that through that God that you prick each and every one of our hearts, God, the fact that Lord, God, you didn't find anything wrong with that church, but you knew Father that that persecution was coming that they needed not fear, but remain faithful. God, may every person that's hearing me this morning, online or here in our presence, God, may every one of them, Father, not fear the enemy, not fear the persecution that may come, not fear the future, not fear what other people might say or do because of their faith, but Lord, may they not fear that, but Lord, may they remain faithful. God, to their calling to what they call themselves to, Lord, they call themselves to you. You call them, they answered it, Lord, and they submitted, committed their lives to you, Lord. I pray they remain faithful, God, to that promise they made you and they're giving their lives to you. God, when the persecution, when the hard times come, when Lord, when they got to make tough decisions, Lord, like who they hang out with, who they marry or don't marry God. Lord, who they go into business with, Lord, who they may work for, God, or who they don't. Lord, God, when they make these choices based on their faith and your word, God, knowing right from wrong, Lord, if your spirit leads to Lord, God, may they be strong in that decision, Father, and Father, as you should come, the rejection comes, Lord, may they not give up, Lord, may they, God, Lord, may they just see, God, the end results of their faithfulness to you, God, 'cause you're faithful to them. That's my prayer, God. Lord, when you show up, you ask the question, Lord, in a parable about justice and for those who are persecuted, Lord, and you said you were an answer, you're gonna, you're gonna, you're gonna, Father, bring justice to them to a persecutor for your namesake, but at the end, Lord, you said, will you find faith on this earth when you come? Lord, I can't speak for other churches, but Lord, my prayer is that when you come to Bear Creek, whether it's today, next week, Lord, or when you come to take us home to be with you for eternity, God, that you find us faithful. God, that you find us faithful. Faithful, Lord, to the ministries you've entrusted us with, faithful to the souls that you've put under our care, faithful to proclaiming the good news of the gospel, Lord, faithful, letting our light shine and be in salty, Lord, in this world. God, may we be faithful. May you find faith in this church when that day comes. And I thank you for that, in Jesus' name. Amen. May he find faith in you. May he find you faithful, church. Amen. Love you, folks. God bless, have a great day. Stay warm this week. (upbeat music) - Thank you for joining our podcast. Here at Bear Creek AG, our goal is to help others know God, find freedom, discover their purpose, and make a difference. Have a great week. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)