Isaiah 51, Isaiah 51, and then another place just in Isaiah 52 here that I thought that the text in my mind says take on strength, and that's what I want to preach on is taking on strength, but I looked it up in my concordance and it doesn't say take it on, but it says put it on, and it's somewhat of the same meaning, but I believe we need to take on strength. Isaiah 51, if you want to stand with us or leave yourself a minute, if that's something you enjoy doing, it's not necessary, but it's always good if we want to, by saying we appreciate that God has preserved His word and left it for us, and I praise Him for it tonight. We wouldn't know what to do, would we? One group of Baptists back home, got together an associational meeting, and one of the questions that was put before the association, and there was a committee was gonna give an answer to the question at the end of the session, and it was how to try the spirits. And one of the best answers was to put it to the Bible test, and if you put that spirit to the test of Bible, that's how we discern it, that's how we know. Because God's Word is not up and down like our feelings are up and down. God's Word is forever settled in heaven. It's rock solid. And so put that to the Bible test. So if we didn't have a Bible, we would be in trouble. I'm not saying that we couldn't worship God. I mean, we have to have the Word of God to know God. But the Word of God, it says, is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. And we do need to know it now. I'm not saying it will happen before the coming of the Lord, but they may take them away from us. We don't know. They may either try to. I mean, they'll declare this book, if they can, maybe in the very near future as hate speech. and say it's not even allowed to be, we don't know what they're gonna do. I mean, the sky's the limit for a lot of people in their wicked, depraved mind. But we need to hide it in our hearts where it cannot be taken away. Need to put it in our children's minds, don't we? Put it in our children's minds, and maybe God'll put it in their heart and have it in our heart, because it's a lamp, so we have to have God's word to guide us along. But in God's word, in Isaiah 53, there's this verse in verse nine. It says, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord, awake as in ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab and wounded the dragon? Art thou not it which hath dried the sea and the waters of the great deep? that hath made the depths of the sea a way of the ransom to pass over. Therefore, the redeemed of the Lord shall return and come with singing, undesigned, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads, and they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. I may have said 53, but I meant 51. I heard people flipping. I may have confused you there. Isaiah 51 9 is where I read from. But they're crying out to God to see God's hand move again. They know the power of God's hand. They know that his hand is mighty. And they're saying, awake, O arm of the Lord. Reach out again and touch. In your power put on strength awake. It was like God wasn't moving but they looked forward to a day when God would move and and and and he did and will and has and does and I'm glad of that and then over in Isaiah 52 And 53, I mentioned last night preaching on the cross, some wonderful scripture here. He says, Awake, awake, Isaiah 52, one. Awake, awake. Put on thy strength, O Zion. Put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city. For henceforth there shall no more come unto thee the uncircumcised and unclean. Shake thyself from the dust, arise and sit down, O Jerusalem. Loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O Jerusalem. captive daughter of Zion. It says, For thus saith the LORD, Ye have sold yourselves for naught, and ye shall be redeemed without money. What a day they were looking forward to. They didn't see this really. They were somewhat confused about it. In Isaiah 52, They was it says there's I believe it is 51 or 2 here there. There's none to guide her you can be seated Thank you for standing. I got a friend who is a missionary to to the Jews. He's connected to them by family somehow he's told me the story but He just lets the Holy Spirit lead him, and that's one of the themes of his burden on his mission card, is there's none to guide her. And he finds these individual Jews all over the world. It's just like God leads his life. It's really amazing how he will encounter these people. And it is like they are blind the Bible tells us they are. It is like this veil is over. But as individuals through the Gospel their eyes can be opened. And the Gospel of course was to them as a people first and then to the Gentile. But the Lord RICH UNTO ALL THAT CALL UPON HIS NAME, AND HE'LL SAVE ALL OF THEM WHETHER THEY BE JEW OR GENTILE." THAT'LL BELIEVE UPON HIM. THAT'LL TURN TO HIM. BUT HE USES THAT. THERE'S NONE TO GUIDE HER, BUT THIS DAY CAME. AND WE KNOW IT DID. ISAIAH 53 CAME WHEN GOD'S SON CAME. AND THEN AS WE SPOKE LAST NIGHT ABOUT THE WORK OF of the cross, but oh, how we need strength. How that it is good to see the arm of God, the power of God, isn't it? I'm glad there's been times in my life when, as the brother prayed the other night, Lord, walk up and down the aisles. When I've been in God's house, when he showed his hand, when he showed his arm, that's the beginning of Isaiah 53. Lord, who hath believed thy report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed. Who has seen it? Have you seen it tonight? Can you think back at a time in your life when you have saw the power of God on people, in your heart, moving in the community, moving in the area? That's what they wanted. Lord, awake that and move like you have before in the generations of old. Let's see it again. It's much like Sapson who, I didn't intend to go this direction, but it's much like Sapson who had seen God move, who was mighty and God was with him, and sin had came into his life, and of course, there's a lot of things you can glean in the book of Judges from the life of Sapson, but he looked like he was taken to a place of ruin. they'd plucked his eyes out and took him down under the Coliseum and made sport of him, that strong man of God who had caught 300 foxes and tied their tails together and set them on fire and run them through the Philistines' court. I mean, so many miraculous stories there in his life about where he tore down the gates and took them up on the hill. I mean, it's a lot. Some's not real fresh. I need to read that again. I think we find strength when we see the things that God has done in the past, but looking here at the word of God and thinking about it, Samson was taken to the end of his life, but it was at the end of his life that he, that, you know, that hair being that Nazarite in that veil, he would tell them, you know, if you bind me with green ropes or cords, I'll lose my strength, but he'd just break them. Sampson, the Philistines would be upon you, Delilah would say. He'd just break them like thread. But that day that she just kept pressing on him, pressing on him. Now the reason I know God's helping me tonight is because I ain't thought of this and I'm preaching on strength. And she says, tell me, Sampson, wherein does your great strength lie? and he finally tells her, you know, I think the world sometimes has seen God's people dry up, and they would really like to know where our strength is. Our strength is in the Lord, and I'm telling you, as long as we'll stay hooked up with him, and as long as we'll stay plugged in with him, my friend will march on as God's people, and nothing can prevent that. He said, upon this rock I'll build my church, and the gates of hell shall not. means shall not. Affirmative speaks from God, cannot, shall not, will not. In other words, prevail against it. I believe there will be a people when the Lord comes that will have faith in Him. Maybe just a few, but there will be a people who believe and trust in Him. I guarantee you that. I want to be in that That number, if he comes in my time, I want to be found in the field working and laboring and faithful. He said, blessed is that servant. When the Lord cometh, he's so fine to do him. I want to be doing the will of God. A Samson cried out after they cut his hair off and his strength was gone. All of a sudden, that began to come back. I want to say tonight, it can come back again. It ain't over until it is over. we can be strong for God in these days. His heart began to grow back, and the strength of God and the power of God began to come upon Samson, and he called for the land, and Edun took his eyesight away, and he said, just one more time, Lord, just one more time, let me see it again. Give me the strength again. Let me feel your power that I may avenge you for my sake. But what it was is that God had worked in his life and the things that looked like wasn't ordered of God was of God. And he was going to use him to be a deliverer of God's people and there underneath that He said, let me fill the pillars, and he put his hands on the pillars, and there was more victory wrought and a greater victory wrought at the end of his life than there was all of his life. Samson brought victory to God's people just like this. I think of another who brought victory to God's children just like this. And so when the strength of God moved upon him, Deliverance came. One of the saddest places in the Word of God is when God's people needed deliverance. The children of Israel needed to be delivered. They wanted to come to new life. They wanted new freedom, new joy. They'd been in captivity. And the Bible says today is a day of rebuke and blasphemy. The children are come to the birth, but there's no strength to bring forth. But there is tonight strength In the Lord, I mean strength beyond measure tonight as the song said. And we need God to strengthen us. I read in the word of God in the book of Revelations to where the Lord spoke to one church and he tells them down in the latter part of his letter, through the letter that he sent to them that John saw and heard, he said there's just a few. And so a lot of people might say we've gotta have numbers to have power. We've got to have numbers to have strength. That's not necessarily the case for you. He said there's a few in Sardis that have not defiled their God. There's a few and they will walk with men white. And I believe when he spoke to that church, he spoke no doubt. collectively, but there could have been and maybe was just a few that heard his voice. In Laodicea, he speaks to the church. He's outside calling inside. He's been pushed out by the people, but yet he calls out into the, if there's anyone, if there's just one that'll hear my voice, I'll come in. Oh, let you be the one. You know, as a sister's father, my brother Tim, he passed away, a member of the church I pastor. I loved him and wish I could have knew him better, but one of their favorite songs was, let me be the one to say thank you. Let me be the one if the nine want to go home. Lord, let me be the one. And so I pray tonight that if all of us could get the attitude, let me be the one to come in at a church with a burning testimony. Let me be the one who can come in and say, I know I got a prayer through this week. I believe we all would gain strength. Don't you now? I'm not just preaching for tonight. I'm preaching for you first next Sunday morning I'm preaching for this pastor and his labors. I'm preaching for your joy I'm preaching for your victory. God's Word is not just eat now and then tomorrow and we run out of the strength of it like we would a meal in four to six hours. No, God's word is greater than that. I believe it was Elijah who got weary. I mean, he was great on Mount Carmel when God's power came, but it seemed like something faded out of him, and Jezebel began to make threats. He flees into the wilderness of Horeb, and there he is in the cave laying down on God. And God comes in the still, small voice and calls him out and says, what doest thou hear? And the next thing, he's over here laying down asleep. And the Lord speaks to him and says, arise and eat. The journey's too great. You need some strength. And God had the angel to put food there for him. And he ate two times. And the word of God says he went on the strength of that meat for 40 days. I mean, God's word, God's food. It's like no other. So if we want to find strength, freedom, we can get it from hearing God's Word. There's strength in the Word of God. I mean, there's strength in it. And so when God's Word is going forth, it'll pay you well to perk up, as the ears would on the old meals back in the day, and listen and hear what God has to say. Amen there is strength in God's Word and oh how we need it. We need strength He said to them there at Sardis I believe it was and also in Philadelphia He spoke to both of them, but he used he said there y'all thou hast a A little strength. And then he says to the church just prior to that, he says, strengthen the things that remain, that are ready to die. There's something left. There's still something left. I want to say to Calvary Baptist Church, it ain't all gone. Don't get that in your head. It's not all gone. It may not be as it was in the 70s. There may not be a camp meeting here three or two or three times a year with 300 people. It may never ever be again, but God's not changed, friend. God's not changed. He's not went on a journey. He's not asleep as the prophets of Baal's God was, but I believe He's still on the throne. He's ready and willing tonight and able still in this day to send down the fire and move in such a miraculous way There's no doubt of who was doing the doing. It was God. It was God. And so, don't believe that it's over. It's not. Strengthen the things that remain. Oh, strengthen it by hearing his word. I thought of some ways to strengthen ourself. Now, of our physical body, I thought of that. You know, work out. You can work out and gain strength. And I believe that this personal walk with God, nothing takes its place. I believe when you come to church, you can find strength from others, as I've already said, but that'll not take place at your personal walk. And the Bible says to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. That's personal. That's between you and God. And that text and context is not you being lost and at the altar alone, work it out, you know, because you can't work for salvation. You're not necessarily even going to sort it all out in your mind and figure it out. Salvation is of the Lord, and God will let you know when you've been delivered. Back home, they usually only say that. Well, we let them pray. We let them work out their own salvation of fear and trembling. I'm not trying to create an argument tonight, but I believe that scripture means for you to work out of you what God's worked in you. Do you believe that with me? Work it out. It's just like if I was preaching tonight, and I am, if I was working or laboring hard and got real physical and I drank this water, in a little while it would come out of me. I put it in and it would come out in the form of perspiration. And I believe that what God put in you, It will work its way out and you'll find strength in working out your own salvation and fearing trembling, making sure you're saved, maintaining a relationship with God, working it out, cultivating what God has put in your heart. Great dividends will come if you'll invest in what God has put in you. Work it out and you'll find strength in that. Work it out. Don't just let it sit still. Work it out. It's the nature of man to be lazy and just want a one-time fix for everything. That's what they wanted with the manna. It was there for them every morning, but some of them said, getting up early and going after it every day. I'm out here today and there's plenty of it. I'm gonna store it on the shelf. But God had done said that won't work and they did it and it bred worms and stank. It got stale and old. But salvation, if we'll let it work and we'll work it, it don't never get old. It don't never get stale. It don't never get bland for you. Thank God it gets sweeter each day if we'll do it right. Oh, there's strength in that. Lamentations said the Lord. His compassions fell not, His mercies. They're new every morning. Every day we awake, we're saved. Saved, saved. Every day if we're saved yesterday, we're saved today. Yesterday is gone, but today is new. And we can shout it from the rooftop today. God is good today. We don't have to live on the days gone by. We can live in the now. God's good now. Our God is almighty now. God is all powerful now. God is all knowing now. God is all wise now. God is in control now. And there's victory in that and strength in that reality. So we can find strength in working with what God has given us. I believe y'all always wanna be a better Christian, don't you? I want to be a better Christian, Lord. I want to be a better preacher. I told Brother Craig today, I feel like a lot of times I'm just so simple when I preach. There are so many preachers. In my spirit, I say all the good preachers and God's preachers are better than me. We want to be humble about it. Paul said, I'm the least. I feel like a lot of times I don't, I don't excel as I should. And I don't, I'm not given, reaching my full potential. I preached the message once on potential. I was in Indiana in a meeting. And I was really young. I consider myself still pretty young. I'm 42. But I've been preaching since I was 19. It's probably the first camp meeting I ever preached in. But I got to think about that tree there in the Word of God that they come upon and there's no fruit. And he says, I've been here before and not got anything, and it's no good. Just cut her down. Why cumbereth it? Cumbereth it the ground. It's just wasting up space. So just cut her down and throw it away. Plant something else in its place. But I'm glad God didn't do that with me. and I'm glad he don't throw the clay away and he don't throw his children away. That fella says, oh no, don't do that. Let me dig about it a little. Let me dung it. We'll check it another year and see if it bears any fruit. And I thought about, you know, reaching our potential. The tree had potential, but it needed some help. And you've got great potential. You boys, all of you here, anybody that's saved, if you're not saved, I'm longing for the day you get saved. But you've got potential. You can be something for God. You can be strong in the Lord. The Bible says, be ye strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. You can stand. You can be like Daniel. You can be like Noah. You can be like Moses. You can be strong like Samson. You can be something for God in these days. but you're gonna have to take on strength. You're gonna have to take on strength. And God gives strength. The Bible says he does. And let's see some verses here. We know this is a good one. In Isaiah 40, I was thinking about strength and I was 99.999% sure that I had what God wanted. And we was over in the fellowship hall and I walked over under that ship and I looked under it and I saw Isaiah 40, 30. Here's what it says. He giveth power to the faint, in verse 29 of Isaiah 40, and to them that have no might, he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall fain and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. You say, preacher, I'm weak. Christian friend, you just keep trustin' God. You just exercise faith as I preached the first night. You have faith in God. He will strengthen you. He gives strength to them who are not, who doesn't feel His might. And strength is not, He says, and the strength of youths will faint. They will get weary. The young men will utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. And they shall walk and not faint. And I'm not trying to be contradictory, but I've preached on working, and that's got its place. But I'm preaching on waiting now. There are times when you're just doing all you know to do, and nothing's happening. You've got to have faith right then. The odds not going anywhere. You say, I went through that trial and it just about got me. And it's been, and I, and you know, the footprints in the sand poem, you know, kind of lost its thrill to people. But I was preaching somewhere in a meeting last year, I think it was over there at Brother Logan's, and I hadn't even recited it to myself or thought about it in a long time. I'd seen it in so many homes and so many bathrooms in churches back in Sunday school rooms, but it got real to me. when I was preaching and I just kind of went over it again and reminded people you say that trial about got me and I trusted in God and I barely made it through it well that's the way they felt it was in the hardest time of my life and I'll look back and just saw one set of prints why was it then Lord that you wasn't with me and the Lord says why child It wasn't then that I had forsaken you, it was then that you would not have made it. And I'm not reciting the poem or what you want to call it exactly right, but he's saying it was in them times that I carried you. I like the thought. What song does it say? He'll carry me through. He'll carry me through. I believe he'll carry us through. He'll carry us through. And he'll carry us through by his strength. And he'll give us his strength. And we can make it. We can make it. And we will make it. God's people can persevere. They can persevere through grace all the way to glory. I believe they can. And he says, they shall, that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. So wait upon the Lord and get strength. God offers it, God gives it to them that wait. Now, while we wait, there's a contemporary song, I believe it is, I heard on the move. While I'm waiting, I will worship. You'll find strength in worship tonight. We're finding strength in worship. I'm a-worshipping a little bit while I'm preaching to you, because what I'm preaching to you is making me happy, because I need strength. I've been a-digging and a-begging and a-clawing lately, maybe like a lot of you. I've been concerned about many things. I feel like that I am a lot like Mary, Mount Martha, who was covered about with much serving, and Mary and Martin, you know, I get them confused, but there she is. One of them was not doing anything. she just sitting at his feet and hearing his word and she chose the good part and she got strength and he said she's took that part that shall not be taken away but the other of worrying and working to get everything just right. The Lord's not interested in a lot of things that we think we've got to do for Him to show up in our lives. He just wants us to get at His feet and do something for us. He's a giving God. He's a loving God. And He wants to do for His children. And there's a great work that goes on at His feet. Worship goes on at His feet. She goes there and carnal people, they think we got, and hey, Brother Craig told me, he said, we needed a new look and y'all remodeled the church. And I got over and I thought, man, this is pretty. This is beautiful. I'm proud for you. Thank God. God's house ought to be nice. But we can get in a mentality that, you know, God is impressed with certain things and God wants these works out of us and these things for us to really get what we need. You know, the fleshly ideal was the woman with the alabaster box of ointment. She gets it, she comes before the Lord, falls at his feet and breaks it and begins to wipe his feet and anoint him and there she is and they think they know what kind of woman she is that the Lord don't know and all this is going on. And then one of them says, you know, this should have not been done. Something greater could have been done. This could have been sold and given to the poor. I mean, I'm glad, it's wonderful to give to the poor, but nothing comes before worship. Nothing at all comes before worship. And she's at his feet. And she's doing something that needs to be told over the whole world, doesn't it? Wherever the gospel's being preached. There's more than one person got at his feet and got help. I know one that got at his feet one night and got help. Have you ever been there? And so we can find strength in worship. And we can find strength in coming together and worship. We find strength. And worship is not always a shouting and feeling good. No, the strength a lot of times does not come until after we worship. Abraham, worship involves a sacrifice in Abraham's day. He's going to give his son, that's what he called worship. And so it took something in that day to worship, in their day you had to bring something. Bear with me. Here he goes and God says, take thy son, thine only son, Isaac, up on the mountain, which I call you to, and offer him up for me. And he does. And he goes and he's gonna offer up Isaac. And on the way up to worship, he said, the lad and I are gonna go yonder and worship and we'll come again. I don't want to dwell on that because I love that scripture. There's a lot to be said about it, but they go yonder and as they walk, where are we going, daddy? Nowadays, he would have said, son, we're going to church. We're going to church, Daddy? Yes, sir. He says, well, Daddy, when we go to church, we take more than this. He said, I know, Dad. I know, son. Well, Dad, I've got a question. What, Isaac? And you know Abraham's heart bound to have been heavy, because he was going to go through with it. He was going to offer his son to God. But he was strong in faith, and he knew that God had done and told him things about that boy. And he knew in his heart, he so understood that God was so true to the things that God hath said. I mean, he's done been through a lot way before Isaac's born. I mean, he's got some strength now. He can believe God. I mean, God has come up through in his life, and Isaac just didn't appear. I mean, so much happened before Isaac. But now God says, he says, well, you know, I just know this, that God's gonna bring him from the dead. he knew he would he had to but God was teaching him something and showing him something and God was doing something that you and I could look back upon and see and so much has came from that but he says father we've got the wood we've got the fire but where's the sacrifice where's it at he says my son God shall provide for himself for himself a lamb and so now We don't go out and get the dove or the pigeon. We don't go out in the field. We've got it made. I'm telling you tonight, I'm trying to tell you that worship should be easy for us because the table's spread. God's done all the work. He just says worship. Am I right about that? Is that not right? Father, we've got the wood. Everything's set up to worship. But Lord, Father, there's always a sacrifice. Lord, Daddy, I know if you're gonna worship God and approach God, you can't just come on your own. There's gotta be an atonement. There's gotta be something to open the path. God, it's gotta be that way to get to God. And he says, my son, God will provide for himself a lamb. And he looks over, we know the stories. He's got his knife and going to slay his own son. And here's the little ram. Here's the little lamb. Here's the little, here's the little innocent with the crown of thorns on his head. And he takes him and he offers him up to God. But in his heart, Isaac died up there. It was three days from that mountain till he got back to them people where he had left and he said, me and the lad are going to go yonder and worship and we'll come again. And in the figure, the Bible says, he received Isaac from the dead. He understood. He saw something. He saw something, friend, and I saw it too. Hey, can you see it? Did you see it? Oh, yes. The man says thanks to Calvary. Oh, his eyes were opened. His burden was lifted. His guilt was taken all at Calvary. and that's the place where we need to go again. We can look back on it as we did last night as a priest about to cross, but everything is set. We can come with empty pockets. We're a child of God. The veil's been tore down. He went behind the veil for us. We can go back there, too, because he made and give us right to go back there. We can go in with praise and thanksgiving. We can offer the praise of our lips. We can come to God, and we can worship God. We can worship God, and we are those that he said that he looked for. He said, the woman at the well says, he says to her, some say worship in this mountain. She says, some say at Jerusalem. He said, you know, we being Jews, we know what we worship. We know, but the Father, he's looking for a people and seeking a people that will, and that's what he's looking for, is spiritual worship. And if you've ever had spiritual worship, their strength and spiritual worship tonight. One fella proclaimed his spiritual worship, had revived and charged his soul so much. Old Brother Mitchell, he said, he got old, you know, and he walked, you know, he was 80 years old preaching the gospel, and he walked over there and he said, I've been revived. He said, I believe tonight that I could swing out over hell on a thread with a water pistol and say boo at the devil. That's strength, ain't it? Hallelujah! That strength, that strength in the soul. I mean all fear's gone! When that happens, there's boldness in your heart. You can claim the victory in the Lord. And we need that again, church. We need the strength of God each passing day. And it comes through His hand when He lays His hand on us and He touches our hearts. and hope, and the fire of God is rekindled, and we can get on our feet again. You say, Preacher, we're not anything. Oh, the church of today is just like Israel was, and Ezekiel sat in that open valley. We've just dried up. That's the way so many people feel, and sometimes it appears that way, but God prophesied, Ezekiel prophesied, and the wind blew upon them, and they began to come together, one to the other, as bones began to join through the sinew, and the muscle all came, and before it's all over, God's people got on their feet, and there stood a great army of God's people. We can find that strength today. It's available to us and we need that strength. I believe this with all my heart. that God spoke to me. Brother Craig said when I left the meeting, I was left heavy hearted when I left here last year in a meeting and I thought we might should have went some more nights and I grieved about it and I was looking forward to coming back if God ever allowed it. I was looking forward to coming back and I've tried to pray and he said I feel like you need to come back. And if you believe in how all that works, that God sent you a pastor, I think you believe that. You say, well, he's not perfect. Well, you ain't either. And so when I first church I pastored, I had a missionary come and I was just trying to be kind to him, you know, and be respectful and just act like I thought I was supposed to act. And I was a young pastor. He comes to the pulpit and he says, I appreciate the young pastor. He says, I appreciate him and his kindness and all the kind gestures and hospitality and everything he's been giving to me. And he said, I hope you love him. I hope you're praying for him. But he says, if there's any issues that you have with him, he said, here's what I want to challenge you to do. He said, pray for him. He said, God will straighten him out or you out one. Pretty good, ain't it? You know, I was glad to hear it because if I needed straightened out, I wanted God to straighten me out. And you know, if you'll have that spirit and I'll have that spirit, there'll be strength in that as well. There'll be strength because there'll be unity. There'll be unity, and how we need unity in these days. There's strength in the church and strength in buildings. We built a building. It's considered a shop. It's got living quarters in it. We built that for my first cousin, Katie. She's teaching school. Her husband just got a job with an electric company. They put their house up for sale. They wanted to move on her dad's farm, which was my granddaddy's farm. And they said, we got to go somewhere because our house is under contract. We've got a short time to be gone. And so we want to build a shop slash house. And we want to live in it for about a year and then build a house. And they said, and Joe come up and said, we're going to have to put a hip roof on that thing. Y'all know what a hip roof is? You know, it's different. It's more, it's not just rafters and gable ends, but they're stronger that way. Those hips are strong. It's one of the strongest roof systems that you can build. Our can't catch it. I mean, it just goes over it, but it's the way in any building. it's how those how those joints are put together is where the strength comes from and the church is like a building a body a building it's the bride of Christ but the church is talked about it's like a building and it's fitly framed together We just redid a house back home. We put vinyl on the outside of it, and there wasn't nothing on it. It was an old house, and a man did the best he could and done his addition himself and tried to save money, and it's good enough for anybody. But Joe, who's the lead carpenter, he fussed. He said, here I am trying to read a square. He said, ain't nothing on a four, ain't nothing on a six. He said, it's all on four and three quarter. It's a four and a fourth, three and a half. I mean, nothing matched. There was 20-something corners in it, just zigzag back and forth, putting vinyl on it. We'd go around the corner, and there'd be a pipe we had to vinyl around. Over here was an old window air conditioner. Over here was a gable. And then they'd come up and said, we want from so far up, we want shakes instead of just running the vinyl all the way up. It turned out pretty, but man, it took some work. But that old house has stood some storms. Even the front of it is logs, and they want to leave that visible, so we vined around it, built a new porch on it, put the soffit up and everything, we re-roofed it, it's beautiful. But it stood because it's brace, everything braces itself. And that's what we're supposed to do, is brace one another. We're strength in numbers, there's strength in this building. There's strength in you as a people, praying for one another, holding one another up. When one has a tendency to lean, when that one old rafter feels the east wind or primarily where I'm from, the jet stream blows out of the southwest or the northwest, primarily west. When that old rafter feels it from the west and it's tempted to give a little, you got another right here leans from the east and she ain't a-givin'. It'll stand. There'll be strength in Calvary Baptist Church if you'll be that way with one another. But if you try to go it alone, I'm not trying to be funny, but you know, in a building, you take us men, some men just want to be the stud, you know, amen? He's tough, he don't need nobody else. That's what you frame walls with, studs. I'm not saying that inappropriate, it makes sense to me. You know, I can stand it, I'm tough. No, you're not. You need one another. God made it that way. You need one another. And we definitely need the Lord. We're nothing without him. But he gives strength to us. He'll give us strength. I will challenge you to strengthen that that remains. Anything that's left that's of God is worth salvaging. Pray over it. Strengthen it. Say, Lord, we got a little old Sunday school, but we thank you for it. Strengthen it. Maybe others will come. We don't know. Well, I know we've been so affected by all of this stuff that's going on. I don't even like to mention it, but it's affected everybody in every way. And to me, it's just pure aggravation to me. I get so frustrated, you know, regardless of how you feel about it. It frustrates me. Just, I just, I didn't know how good we had it before some of this stuff come. I feel bad for taking times that I complained and, you know, I was like, well, it's got to get better. And then I'd take it back in a minute like that. Would you? I would. What I thought was normal, that I thought there was a better normal. Oh, give me the 90s, the early 2000s. Give it back to me. That's the way I feel coming from that point but we can't go back but we can go forward. You say I think it's about over. Well, we're marching home then. We're marching on home. I mean the king is fixing to appear. Our leader and commander he's fixing to show himself and I want to look good for him. I don't want to be over here with my head buried under a stump somewhere. I want to be standing as a soldier of the cross, strong in the Lord, being strong in the Lord. I need the courage of Joshua. I need the strength of Samson. I need the faith of Abraham. I must have it. Last year when I left the meeting, I preached here. I thought, Lord, I just cried from the heart and didn't get anywhere, but I said, remember me. I'll say that I'll remind you. Remember me. Pray for me. Pray for my own. One prayer request that comes to mind. My mom's brother will have surgery tomorrow. His name is Harold. Harold Wheeler. And I called him and he cried. I always called him because there's been many times that I thought he'll go under and it'll be heaven before we meet again. But God's been gracious and he's come through it. He's had open heart two times, so many stents, valves replaced, it's unreal. It's amazing that he's even still with us. He has surgery tomorrow. Would you say a prayer sometime between now and first thing in the morning at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville, he'll have a serious procedure. But remember my Uncle Harold. and remember me, remember my family. It's been a joy to be here. Take on strength, church. Take on strength. Ask God, say, Lord, strengthen our faith. Lord, strengthen our hands. Whatsoever your hands find to do, do it with all of your might. Amen, whatever it is. Pray for Brother Craig. God will straighten you out of him that one. He didn't ask me to say that. I thought that was so good. I was so happy in my heart when that missionary said that, and we didn't have no troubles at that church. As far as I know, you all don't have, but we're all just people. We're all just people, and we need the Lord. We're poor and needy, poor and needy without him. It's been good to meet some of you. It's been a blessing to see you. It's been good to be here. If you're here tonight and you're unsaved, It is my prayer that God would come and confront you and deal with you, draw you to him, change your life, and you'll know what I know. I want to be able to talk with you on that level that we've got that in common. I'm rooting for you. I'm a-pulling for you. Jesus died for you. God's good, ain't he? God's good all the time. God bless you. Appreciate you listening at us tonight. Brother Craig, you come.