For all the Lord's done, and I prepared my message out of Isaiah 53 last night, got it all done, and got to church this morning. The Lord has changed my heart. In my direction, we're not done with Isaiah 53, but we're gonna take this morning and follow the Lord. I want you to turn to Genesis chapter number 28 this morning. Genesis chapter number 28 this morning, and give you a thought that God gave me this morning. And I got in my office and was about, I guess about seven this morning, was getting things together and preparation. Really, I just had a had a thought come to my mind and I want to preach on it and Give you what God's little my heart and as I lay the groundwork you understand I just want this I thank God for the church this morning I've never blown any of the group don't plan on belonging of the group I I am a church man, and I am thankful for the church this morning, and that is where my heart is. Where else in this world can you enjoy what we've enjoyed this morning other than the church? In a day and age where people want to get rid of the church, I am thankful for the church. And I have been, I have, my heart has been stirred towards that thought this morning, and I'm gonna get my timer out here, but I don't know how much it's gonna mean this morning, let's be honest, will ya? But Genesis chapter number 28, and let's begin reading in verse number 10, and we'll read a few verses of scripture, and I'll give you the burden upon my heart today. If you're glad you saved, say amen. The Bible said, And Jacob went out from Beersheba, went toward Haran, and he lied upon a certain place and tarried there all night, because the sun was set. And he took of the stones of that place and put them for his pillow and laid them down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed and behold a ladder set up on the earth and the top of it reached to the heaven and behold the aims of God ascending and descending on it. And behold the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father and the God of Isaac. The land whereon thou liest to thee will I give it thee, and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. And in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land, for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken of thee.' And Jacob awaked out of his sleep and said, Surely the Lord is in this place. And I knew it not. He was afraid and said, How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God. And this is the gate of heaven. In other words, Jacob said, the closest I've ever been to heaven on earth was when I was at the house of God. Lord, I love you this morning because you first loved me. Thank you for your goodness and your mercy and your grace. Thank you, Lord, for what you've already done in my heart today. Lord, when I was here by myself this morning, Lord, what you worked in my heart, and I thank you for that. Lord, touch us, anoint us, fill us with the Holy Ghost. Help us to preach with that anointing that every man must have to preach the Word of God effectively. Cleanse me of sin, empty me of self. Fill me with Thy Spirit. Well, may that not just be a ritual I pray, but may it be the desire of my heart. Help us, God, we pray. Get glory to Yourself in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. When we come to Genesis chapter number 28, we are reacquainted with Jacob. We know that Jacob, this is the famous account of Jacob's ladder. I don't know why we call it Jacob's ladder. Jacob didn't own the ladder and he never climbed the ladder, but somehow it got called Jacob's ladder. It's really the Lord's ladder if you wanna get technical about it, amen, but that's just, we won't split hairs about that. But it was on this night here in Genesis 28 when God began to do an eternal work in the life of Jacob. One that would affect Jacob for years to come. When we come to this text, we find a few things about Jacob. First of all, we find that Jacob is tricky. His name means the supplanter or the heel catcher. He is a con artist. You read the last two chapters of his life, he has conned Esau out of the birthright for just a bowl of pottage. In chapter 27, with the help of his conniving mother, they have now tricked his father Isaac into getting the blessing of the firstborn. Jacob is a trickster. They will also find because of this, Jacob is threatened. In fact, in Genesis chapter number 27, verse 41, and Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing whereof his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, the days of mourning for my father are at hand, then will I slay my brother Jacob. This was something that was not hidden by Esau, but he made it well known that the day that Isaac died, Jacob would be following soon in death. Jacob is tricky, Jacob is threatened. Now in our text, Jacob is traveling. He has to leave Isaac and his mother, Rebekah, thinking it's best for him to leave. I believe that's a good idea. Somebody wanting to kill you at home might be a good time to leave. And so Jacob is on the run, if you would, from his brother Esau. He is left. He is homeless. We find in our text this morning that Jacob is tired. Verse number 11, he lied upon a certain place and tarried there all night because the sun was set. And he took up the stones of that place and used them for his pillows and laid down in that place to sleep. He finds a stone. and used it for a pillow and goes to sleep. But little did he know that it was on this night that God was gonna show up in his life and make a difference that would change him for time and eternity. At the end of the story, as we read in verse 17, Jacob said, this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. How about you this morning? I thank God for the house of God this morning. More importantly, if I say it this way, I thank God for the church of the living God. 1 Timothy 3, 15, Paul said, but if I tear it long, thou mayest know how thou oughtest Behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of the truth. Jesus said to our Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Ephesians 5 says, Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church. and gave himself forth, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. I like over in Revelation 20, the Lord Jesus standing there in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, and the Bible said in the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. Somebody said, well, Jesus, he's got the whole world in his hand. Well, not technically, because the devil is the god of this world. But I'll tell you this, he does have the church in his hand, amen. I'm glad the Bible said my father which gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. I'm just saying this morning, I am glad I am a part of the church. I'm glad, I'm so glad I am a member of the local New Testament independent fundamental Bible believing old fashioned. I make no apology about that. I didn't stutter when I said that. and when I said that, I am glad that I am a part of the church of the living God. Somebody say, you believe you're the only one right. No, I don't believe I'm the only one right, but I do believe I am right. Amen. I do believe that. We have been told in 2020 that the church is non-essential. We was talking about this Sunday morning, this Sunday school about the drugs and the demonic power behind that and I believe it's Brother William went out the door and said it's bad when the church is not essential but the methadone clinics are. And the liquor stores are. I'm telling you, we have been duped in this country by wicked, don't die on me right now. Amen, you come on now. I don't know, here he goes again. Yeah, here I go again. Buckle up, keep your arms and legs in the right at all times. You'll be all right when it's over. We've been duped in this country by being told the church is not essential and that you can have church online and be just effective. I am telling you, you cannot do that. There is just something. about walking in those doors, getting in my pew, getting my psalm book, getting my Bible, singing together with the people of God, hearing the man of God get up and open up that Bible and preach the word of God. There's no substitute for it. Amen. I thank God for technology, and I'm glad we can broadcast our services to those who are physically unable to get to the house of God, but that online church is not a substitute for being in the house of God. We've been told the church is not essential. You know why we've been told the church is not essential? Because the church has been living like it's not essential for a long time. Take it or leave it. drag in half late, not come on Sunday night, not come on Wednesday night, not faithful to Sunday school, not faithful to prayer meeting, have a cookout, bunch of people show up, have a prayer meeting, two show up, talk to me now. No wonder the government told it wasn't essential. They looked at our lifestyle and said, well, it really don't matter to them. I wish somebody would help me preach. I'm telling you this morning, long before Cooper said it was not essential, Christian said it wasn't essential. Until it's time that we rise up and say by the good grace of God, we need the church. We need the house of God. Hey, I don't need the government, but I need the church. I don't need sports, but I need the church. I don't need events, but I need the church. I certainly don't need Hollywood, but I need the church. I don't need entertainment, but I need the church. I don't need pleasures, but I do need the church. God knows I don't need Joe Biden or Roy Cooper, but I need the church. I don't need the world's approval, but I need the church. I love my president, but I don't need my president, but I need the church. I've got to have the church of the living God. My family depends on it. My life depends on it. My home depends on it. My future depends on it. I need the church. How many people are out of church today because church is shut down? Not because they're scared of the virus. They might be saying that, but they ain't stopped going everywhere else. I have walked on, believe it or not, I have walked on eggshells the last six months, and I'm about tired of it. It's time to get back in church. It's time for God's people to say, I don't care what the stink of government, when does the government have a say in what we do in the church anyway? They ain't paid one bill this place. They didn't pay this property, they're not paying this mortgage, and they keep their minds up in Washington and Raleigh and keep their mouths and keep their hands off 270 Dunn's Mountain Church Road. This is not rammed through Raleigh. This is not rammed through Washington. This is rammed through a street of glory in heaven. We need the church! They'll have to drag my body out of this pulpit before I give up the church. We need the church. Your family needs it, your home needs it. I love the church. I thank God for the church. Amen. The church is what got me in. The church is what, the bar didn't get me in. The liquor store didn't get me in. The job didn't get me in. The family reunion, God knows they didn't get me in. But it was at the church where I heard the word of God preached. Where I felt the touch of God in my soul and conviction. I thank God for the church of the living God. But it's not really important. Take it or leave it attitude. Come on now, talk to me. I'm fed up. People laying out for no reason. Amen, not coming, not attending, not supporting, not getting involved. I'm telling you, if you're saved by the grace of God, he put in you what he put in me. And when he saved me, he put a love for the church. I am a part of a body. I belong to this place. Somebody said, well, you're talking about the universal church. I don't care what you call it, it's God's church. But I do believe in the local, visible, New Testament church. And I believe it is God's will for every born-again believer to be a part of a local, visible, not an online church. It's now sneaking into our movement. You can now be an online member of a church. There's no expectation. You don't have to show up. Just click on Say You Watch, mail us your tithe, and you can be a member. We're not going in for that here. We're not having online members. We are members of a visible, local New Testament church. You won't find an online church in that King James Bible anywhere, but you will find where they were daily in the house of the Lord. They were daily singing and praying and preaching and telling folks about Christ. I'm just saying this morning, we need a church. It's about time that we rise up and give the church and give the Lord Jesus Christ our very best. Well, preacher, I just don't know, you know, we go to church just to feel better about our conscience. We go to church because, you know, it's right. I don't go to church because it's right. I go to church because I want to go. Well, I don't like those people at the church. Who said church is about you liking anything? Well, I don't feel welcome there. Who said church's about you feeling welcome? I preach a lot of places where I wasn't welcome, especially when I got done, and it may be that way here this morning. But I'm gonna tell you the truth in the next 30 minutes. We need the church. Church ain't about you feeling good. Church ain't about what you like, what's going on. Church is about the Lord, Jesus Christ, being magnified above all, and that Bible being preached. People wouldn't miss as much work as they do church. You wouldn't let your kids miss school, but you'd let them miss church. You wouldn't miss a day's pay, but you're gonna miss church. Church is something we do if we ain't got something else to do. If we don't have something more important going on, then we'll go to church. I'm telling you, we're putting an end to that today. From this day forward, I am asking you as a member of this church to put this place as a priority in your life. Because whether you realize it or not, you need it. Here's how I know that, because I went a month without it. Well, preacher, we had a parking lot church. It wasn't the same. Couldn't see you. Couldn't hear you. Couldn't greet you. Of course, some of y'all liked that because the lack of accountability was there. Come on now. Talk to me. I slammed my hand on my fist last Sunday afternoon. I said, we ain't shutting down again. I mean, if I gotta stay home and preach online to y'all, I will. We ain't shutting down again. I'm not like, y'all meet here and y'all throw me up on the big screen and one of these other men will preach, but we having church. By God's grace, amen. I'm just telling you, it is more important that we are in the church. We ain't talking about other churches this morning, we're talking about our church. We need it. We need it. We need it. You need it. I need it. I was driving down the road this morning, heading to Bojangles, people's eyes, tears rolling down my face, thanking God I don't remember a Sunday in my life when I wasn't in church somewhere, hearing the man of God preach, hearing those old songs sung this morning. There's never been a day, I know everybody's testimony, but I'm sure glad that's my testimony. I was born on September 30th, 1991 on a Monday night. And on Sunday, I was in church. And I ain't missed a beat since. And don't plan on it. I felt half backslid for vacation on Sunday afternoon. After preaching. Felt half backslid. I'll see how some of y'all do it all day long and don't bother y'all. Amen. I'm in a good mood today. You all right? You do want a preacher to tell you the truth, don't you? You do want a preacher to stir up that nest. And while I'm trying to stir up your pure minds for remembrance, where would you be without the church? So I said, well, I'm here because of Jesus. Jesus works through the church. In fact, the church is the body of Christ. Amen. Now, let's get back to the text. Y'all ran that rabbit and made me preach on it. Now I've got to deal with the text. Why do I need the church? By the way, I'm preaching on it. If you haven't picked it up, I'm preaching on it. We need the church. We need the church. Number one, at this church, this house of God, this experience with Jacob, there was a divine visitation. Look at verse 13. He gets there to Bethel. Watch what the Bible says. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said... You know what happened when he got to the house of God? God showed up. You know what I like? I know God can show up at my house and He has in my prayer time. I know God can touch somebody's heart through an online message, through a CD. But I'm telling you, there's just something about going to church and seeing the people of God and enjoying the presence of God. Amen God showed up at this church. He is in this text a self-existing one the Bible said and behold the Lord capital L capital O capital R capital day the self-existing one. He is the supreme one He stood above it in the context. He's standing above that ladder, but I'm glad he's above everything It don't matter what you're doing with he's above it praise God. He is above it He is also the speaking one And said, I like going to church because that's where God talks. Are you all right? Did I ruffle your feathers? Did I ruffle your feathers? If I didn't, I'll go back and try again. Because that's our problem. We've got so just slide in, slide out. I'll tell you, I like getting to church early. I like getting to church early. I get here at 7 o'clock on Sunday morning. Hey man, I just like being here. In fact, I live here all day long on Sunday. This is the Lord's day. Everybody can't stay at church all day long, but I can. I just like giving the Lord all of my day at the house of God. Because he shows up here sometimes, just me and him, without y'all. I know that's surprising. Hey man, y'all okay? Some of y'all are looking a little pinky. Divine visitation. Preacher, you're being awful rude and awful straight and awful firm, and I wish you'd go back to preaching on Calvary. You don't want me to preach on Calvary. Because if you really had a view of Calvary, I wouldn't have to be preaching like this. Amen. Divine visitation. direct voice. Verse 13 and 15, God was speaking. Watch this, and I'll give you the outline quickly. He spoke of a pardon. He said, I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father. Well, hallelujah. Here's the blessing. Abraham wasn't always a follower of God. In fact, he was a heathen when God found him. And God called him out of the Ur of the Chaldees. And said, get out of that, and let's go somewhere better. Aren't you glad when God came by at the house of God? He called you out. of where you were at and called you into a better life, amen. Some of you called out a life of religion, have a life of wretched sin. I'm just glad he called you out, praise God. He spoke of a possession, verse 13. He said, The land whereon thou liest, will I give it to thee to thy seed. You know what that land was? It was Canaan land, which is a picture of the victorious Christian life. You know what I have learned about the victorious Christian life? It wasn't at the ball field. It wasn't at the family reunion. Why'd they have to have those on Sunday? Thank God my family don't do that, but if they was, I'd say, look me up, I ain't changed. You see a picture of me, I ain't changed what I look like. If you wanna come see me, I'll be down at the church. I don't care how far I drove, come see me at church. Amen, amen, that's exactly right. I learned that at church. Everything I know about God, I learned at church and through the ministry of the local church. spoke of a possession, spoke of a pardon, spoke of a path, a production, rather. He said, thy seed shall be as dust of the earth. Thou shalt spread abroad to the west, to the east, and north, and south, and in the east, shall all the families of the earth be blessed. He said, son, I'll make something out of you if you'll let me. Listen to me. You cannot be what you could be for God without the church. It's impossible. It's impossible. Amen. I mean, what has, whatever it is that keeps you out of church, what has that done? I would love to hear this. I'm not being smart. You may think I'm being smart. That's because you're convicted. But what has, whatever you're putting in front of church, what has it done for you more than Jesus has? I'd love to hear it. I'd love to hear it. I would love to hear what they've done. I'd love to hear what Grandma would have done more for you than what Jesus did. I'd love to hear what the football team done more than what Jesus did. I'd love to hear that. I'm sure it's an amazing story, and I'm sure God's like, oh, well, that's the reason. That's okay. That done more for you than I did for you. Come on now. Amen. He spoke of a reduction. He spoke of promises. Look at verse 15. He said, Behold, I am with thee, a promise concerning this presence. He said, we'll keep thee a promise concerning preservation. He said, he said, and I will keep thee in all place where thou goest and bring thee in this land for I will not leave thee until I have done what I have spoken to thee. Spoke of his path. He said, I'll lead you. Gave him peace. He said, I will not leave thee. He said, I'm gonna perform it. He said, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. If God said it, he'll do it. You know what I've learned about the promises of God? Down at the church. Watch this. a divine visitation, a direct voice, a discovered value, verse 16. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep and said, surely the Lord is in this place. And I knew it not. He was afraid and said, how dreadful is this place. There is none other but the house of God and this is the gate of heaven. When Jacob first came to this place, he didn't realize how valuable it was going to be in his life. Notice the exclamation in verse 16, Surely the Lord. I've quoted this wrong for years. I've quoted, Surely the Lord was in this place. That's not what the Bible said. He said, Surely the Lord is. He hung out. He's still there. Hey, I can testify this morning. Surely the Lord is in this place. And I understand in this New Testament dispensation that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost. I understand that. But you get all the people of God together in the local church, and you get that body of the temple of the Holy Ghost together in the sanctuary of God, you're going to have church. This is a sanctuary from the world. This is a tabernacle to meet with God. This is a temple for worship. This is a church for congregating. The exclamation. The expectation. He said, I knew it not. In other words, he said, I didn't expect the Lord to show up here. Hey, can I testify to you? There's been times I've showed up at church and said, I ain't expecting much tonight. Or I ain't expecting much today. Usually on a rainy Sunday, it's going to be bad. Because everybody has that complexion. Rainy and dreary. But I made up my mind this morning. Praise God, it's sunshine somewhere. So I'm gonna go ahead and have church anyway. And you know what, God showed up. The expression, verse 17. He was afraid and said, how dreadful is this place? That's how some of y'all are feeling right now. Boy, this is dreadful, what preacher's preaching right now, this is a dreadful place. That's not what that word means though. Afraid and dreadful means he was respectful and reverent. of that place. He was standing in awe. He realized, I better not show up here half-hearted. Hey, I preached at Wednesday night and I said it in the prayer room. We've got to get back to a spirit of prayer and getting under a burden for our services. You realize in the next month some bad things could happen in our nation. And by the way, if Biden wins, God is still on the throne, and we still going forward. Amen. We ain't stopping one bit. Well, preacher, by God's grace, we're going forward. God don't want the church going out dwindle now. He wants her going out on fire. Brother Barry Radcliffe, I listened to him preach this week. He said, right now, The way our nation is, is the best time and the most proper time and the most fertile time for God to move in revival. Because for the most part, people have a little bit of a knowledge of God. Or should at least. The estimation. Verse 17, he said, this is none other but the house of God and this is the gate of heaven. I'm convinced by the ritual, a lot of people's not gonna like heaven. Because they don't like church. If you don't like church, you're not going to enjoy heaven. I want to be awful and go to heaven and not enjoy it. So I said, I don't enjoy church. I'm looking at you. Some of y'all look like your dog died. I mean, your best friend died. I mean, you look like Jesse Jackson on election day and liberals when Trump won the election. That lady cried. That's what some of y'all look. Which is like my screensaver for my phone. I love that. Hey, I'm just telling you, some of y'all look depressed and upset, but we got something to rejoice about. We got something to be happy about. You know, I like folks that just have an upbeat personality and just excited, that's how I am. I like that. You know what I mean by the dominant gets along? We're both like Trump for one thing, but two, we just got both that personality. Feed off one another. And we as people of God, if we got Jesus on the inside, we got a shared fellowship. I ain't gonna leave that alone. We got an inward, except for one area of our life, which is quarterbacks at Georgia. You know why we have good fellowship? Because we love the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, we all come from different walks and backgrounds. Everybody's from a different place. But you know what brings us together? Him. Him. It don't matter what your background is, what your culture is. Hey, I've preached in places where it's quiet. Dead. Seemingly dead. But I got to preach, thought, man, it's gonna be bad. And you know what? They were listening. My spirit bore witness for their spirit. And then I've been some places where I didn't know anybody, and it's just I walked in and had 100 new friends. It's the spirit of God that lives on the inside. That only happens at church. Amen. Just met Brother Dominic and Miss Lee and we sat down at Family Day and eating back there and we talked and acted like we've known each other 20 years. That's the fellowship of the believers. Me and Brother Michael have known each other less than a year. That's what the church is about. Relationships together that are based on the Lord Jesus Christ. I heard a preacher preach one time and said, do you really want to go to heaven? Because you wouldn't like the music in heaven based on the music you listen to on earth. Because they don't play Lady Gaga and they don't play Garth Brooks in heaven. They play gospel music in heaven. He said you wouldn't like heaven because you wouldn't like the shouting in heaven. If you don't like the shouting in the church, you wouldn't like it in heaven either. If you don't like the standards on earth, you wouldn't like them in heaven either. He said in the Bible they're all wearing long white robes. All white robes. If you don't like it on earth, you wouldn't like it in heaven. So do you really want to go to heaven? Amen. I do. Sounds like church to me. Y'all with me? I know I'm just giving you my heart this morning. I wrote this down in my Bible and I'm not trying to sound wrong or disrespectful, but if church is supposed to be a lot like heaven, then why is it a lot like hell? People look mad and sorrowful and look like they just hate everything that's going on and anguish. It shouldn't be that way. Shouldn't be that way. Jacob, when he woke up, said, this is the house of God and this is the gate of heaven. He said, this is, you know what the gate is? The gate is the entrance into a place. Church is the gate to heaven. That's what Jacob said. They discovered value. How's your value of the church? What I love, I take care of and put value in. That's why I appreciate those that clean our church, take care of the facilities and the carpet. I know this sounds weird, and my wife will love this, but when I walked in this morning and saw those lines in the carpet, my wife, she goes crazy about them lines in the carpet, but you know what? God's house ought to be the best looking place in town. Old brother Eric got dizzy headed out here, but he got all them bushes trimmed. He's over here doing it like this, but he got them trimmed, praise God. I like things looking nice and neat. This ought to be the best looking place in town. Put a value on it. I'll give you this and I'm done. The declared vows. At church, with Steve, Jacob made some decisions that day. Notice his diligence, verse 18. Jacob rose up early in the morning. Meeting with God at the house of God made him active. Notice his dedication. He took a stone, he put it up for his pillow and set it up for a pillar. That pillow turned into a pillar. Pretty good. Somebody said, I thought a pillar and a pillow was the same thing. Amen. Depends on where you're from. Amen. And he poured all upon the top of it. He set that place apart from every other place in his life. He said, this place is special. this place. Is that not what that means, Brother Larry? He set it apart to this place. It's special. Hey, I say it before, I've got coke holders in my office, but I won't bring a coke in here in the sanctuary. I won't wear a hat in this auditorium. There are certain things, this is special. Amen. I respect, I set this place apart. His description called in that place Bethel. Bethel means house of God. His decision, look at verse 20 through 22. Jacob bowed to Baal, saying, If God be with me and will keep me in this way that I will go, and give me bread to eat and raiment to put on, so that I may come again to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God. He's not making a bargain with God. God's Word is firm. He said, If God's going to do this, then I'm going to do this. And the stone which I have set for a pillar shall be God's house. Oh no. Oh no. Take a deep breath. Watch what he says. And of all thou shalt give me, I will surely give a tenth unto thee. Now that's before the law ever come around. He said, God, you've done something in my heart. Whatever you give me, you're going to get 10% of it. He didn't need a preacher to tell him that. He didn't need somebody, a Sunday school teacher to teach him that. He said, Lord, that's the least I can do. That's the least I can do. He got right at church and started tithing. Wasn't that a blessing? Amen. I didn't write it, I just read it real loud. He made some decisions. Here's the last thing though. His desire. You know Jacob strayed away from Bethel. You read between Genesis 28 and Genesis 35. He marries the wrong woman. Oops. And it wasn't his fault, that's on the father-in-law. He pulls a lot of bad deals again. Jacob and Laban, they deserved each other. I mean, that's pulling stuff on one another. I mean, just back and forth. I mean, just constantly. He allowed idols into his home. You read Genesis 35, and they got a lot of bad things going on. But in Genesis 35, I love this. God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there. He said, you've strayed away from my house, Jacob. Let's go back to church. And make thee there an altar. He said, get back on your knees, Jacob. He said, there I appeared unto thee, when thou fledst from the face of Esau thy brother. You know what Jacob said unto his household? Put away the strange gods that be among you and be clean, and change your garments. He said, it's time we got our family right. He said, it's time we got back to the house of God. You need the church this morning. I've been very forward and very straight with you and I don't apologize for any of it. I've said it with a heart of compassion this morning because I am concerned about your family and concerned about your spirituality. And I want to challenge you this morning, you need the church. Your flesh needs the church to keep it in check. Your faith needs the church for it to grow. Your fellowship is needed at the church. Your family needs the church. Our marriages need the church. God knows our children. They need the church. If you don't care nothing about more than this for your children's sake, they need the church. I don't like all them babies in the service, I do. Sometimes they got to get taken out and tended to. I understand that, but I like children in church. I'm not being critical of nobody, but I don't like these churches that shove all the kids off some back room somewhere and don't expose them to singing and preaching and praying. I'm going to have my boys know something about it. I'm going to have somebody shout something and go, what are they doing? Well, they know something about it. Amen. Miss Stephanie, you was raised under Bill Boggess, what a great man of God, and I am no near the preacher he was, but I'm glad you're raising, you and Matthew are raising your little girl in the church under the same kind of preaching and standards and separation. Amen. Brother Richie, I'm glad y'all are raising Uriah and Brother William, Miss Leah raising Grayson in the church. These other families with their older children, raising them in the church. Dominic and Leah, this is a good church. Amen. to raise Asher in, amen? I remembered Asher's name for five months before I remembered Dominic and Leah's name, but that's the way it is after you have kids, amen? Grandparents don't even remember your name anymore. But I'm not bitter. They don't remember your name, they remember your grandbaby's name. But they need, hey, we've seen how much our world has changed in our short, I'm talking my generation, we've seen how much the world has changed in our lifetime. What are our kids gonna deal with? What's that little boy gonna deal with? Richie, William, what's our boys going to have to deal with? What do they have to grow up in? What's that little girl going to have to grow up in? What kind of world are they going to have to grow up in? I'll tell you, I don't know what kind of world it would be, but it does need to be a world where the church is at. Where the light's shining. Where they know, and they don't always like it and enjoy it, but they know there's a church there telling the truth. And they need the church. Hey, you need the church, but the church wants you. We want your identification. Here's what I mean. Identify with the church. Say, I'm not ashamed to be a part of a local church. Your investment, not just financially, but your prayer, that does part of it, your offerings, your prayers, your involvement. Why won't you get involved? Why do people stand on the out edge and won't get involved? I don't understand that. I was watching Georgian Tennessee play yesterday and I was like, put me in coach. I want to get involved. That's why I'm at church. I want to be involved. I'd hate to know that I was involved in interesting and more worldly things than I was the church. Give the church your presence, your prayers, and give the Lord your praises. I want you to think for a moment. It's twelve o'clock. I've preached longer this morning than I have the last six Sunday mornings in a row combined, I think. But I want you to think for a minute. Where would I be without the church this morning? Where would I be if there wasn't a church? It may not necessarily be this church. For some of you, it could be this church. Some of you, I can go through. William, you'd be lost. Where would you be without the church? Richard, we don't know. Where would you be without the church? Who does a drunk call when his daughter gets diagnosed with cancer? He'll have nobody call. But we have the church. What does the world do when tragedy sets in? They don't have nowhere to go and say, hey, would y'all help me pray about that? They don't have that. But we have the church. Has your appreciation for the church lessened a little bit? It's so easy to do. It's so easy to get caught in the motion that you forget the value of this place. You know, the church is valuable because Jesus loved the church and gave himself for the church. And I look at it this way, Brother Tony, if Jesus thinks that much of the church, then Brother Larry Odd had a high premium and a high value of the church. I thank God for the church. And I thank God for this church. And I'm, in the right sense of the word, proud to be identified. We're the crazy church in town. We're the crazy preacher that jumps on the pulpit and runs around and hollers and yells and we shout and we go to the altar. And that's okay. I'm fine being labeled like that. That means God goes here. I'm okay with that. Don't bother me one bit. Don't disturb me. I saw a church the other day where somebody had come down to the altar and the preacher was like, it wasn't time to come to the altar yet. And he was kind of like, didn't know what to do. I'm glad that's common around here. This is His church, not my church, not your church, it's the Lord's church. And the Lord thinks much of the church, how much more should we? Let's stand together. I preach 39 minutes, heads bowed and our eyes closed.