Yes. Nope, stay right there, because I'm going to say a couple words, I'm going to pray, and then I'm going to leave. Everyone good? Everyone ready? Wait a minute. Oh, no, I don't. Go. Tell me when. Are we on? Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Fellowship Bible Church. I know by everybody I mean mostly people who are watching this on Facebook or maybe a little later on watching or listening to it. We do have a handful of people here today, just those that are necessary to try to bring this to you. But it's unusual circumstances for us. This is definitely new ground for us here. just to explain what it is that we're doing here today. We're going to try to worship the Lord together. And we're here in the building. We have no idea what's going on outside. We're just trusting that a lot of people are out there tuned into this and are going to sing along with us and listen to the word and just have an encouraging time giving glory and honor to the Lord and worshiping him just like we would if we were all here. Why are we doing it like this? Well, obviously, you're aware of the what has been called now a pandemic that's affecting our area as well as the entire world and we want to be good citizens and we want to be responsible and we want to be prudent and careful and wise without being you know hysterical or panicky about it but we do need to be smart and be a good testimony in our community. So to try to facilitate personal space and a little of kind of keeping apart from one another to try to slow the spread of a virus. Maybe months from now we'll look back and think that this didn't really accomplish anything or maybe months from now we'll look back and say, wow, that was really smart. But while we're here in the moment, A lot of us here in the church just feel like this is the right way to do it. So thank you for being part of this today. And hopefully this will be a great time for everyone. All right. We've got our musicians up here. They're going to lead us in worship of the Lord. We're going to share a little bit from the word. And with all that said, let me just say a prayer for us and then we will begin our service. Welcome. Welcome, everybody. Thank you for being here. Let us pray. Our father in heaven. Dear Lord God, we thank you that we can gather like this. Thank you, Lord God, that in a day and age where probably technology gets used for a lot of good and a lot of bad, We can leverage a little bit of it here to try to bring people together and try, Lord God, to point people to you and give out words of comfort and instruction and challenge even, and even sing songs together and glorify you and exalt you with praises and singing. Thank you, Father, that we can be here. We know, Lord, that while we're all in different places than we usually are at this time, you are not moved. And you are on your throne and you are the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Israel, the one true living God. There is none other. We come to you in the name of Jesus, your only begotten son, the only way to you. You love the world so much that you gave Jesus, your son, that by your grace, through faith in you, Lord Jesus, there is everlasting life, the forgiveness of sins, justification, reconciliation with God. Hallelujah. We praise you for your grace and praise you for this love and praise you for this mercy. Thank you for your spirit who lives in each one of your children. And we thank you and we praise you. And we pray that this time now that we have set aside that you would help us and guide us because we certainly need it. And I pray that you would be exalted and honored and glorified. And I thank you, Lord, in Jesus name. Amen. Thanks, guys. Good morning, everyone. As I was thinking about this experience of what we're going through right now, and even just as a church as we're meeting virtually, When we're gathered together in person, usually sometime about now, either Deacon Steve or Deacon Chris will get up and make some announcements. And really, you can probably guess this, the only announcement that I have for you is that basically everything here other than this is canceled for the week coming up. And we're just going to take that one week at a time. Things that the public becomes aware of, we're doing our best to keep our eyes on that. Yesterday we had the Men's Prayer Fellowship and it was a very nice gathering, the best information that I had at the time was to restrict meetings of 250 or less. I think it was our governor who said that. And so it seemed a reasonable thing to go ahead and have that. And we had a really good meeting. And then as we talked, some of us among ourselves, as the day went on yesterday, we decided maybe we need to do a little bit more. And so that's why we have what we have now. which is this online experience. And I want to thank the people who are here today, just ones that we've asked if they would be part of it. Thank you certainly to Jed and Amy, and their kids are here with them today. And Brother Phil, thank you for the wonderful song you sang there for us. My family's here, and Deacon Steve is here to help out with things as well. And of course, maybe the most important man in the church right now, Brother Nelson is here too. God bless all of you guys. Yeah. All right. If you have a Bible, would you open your Bible please with me to Matthew chapter six. Matthew chapter six. You know, my conviction about this as I come to this time in our service, I'm not going to use it to talk about current events or anything like that. I want us to turn our minds to the Lord. I think the songs that you just sang or listened to urged you to do that. To focus on the Lord and get our minds to where they long to be. Have you ever heard the old saying that we're sometimes too heavenly minded and therefore not of any earthly good. I think that cliche, while it sometimes is useful, I think a lot of times it's also wrong. I think the better thing to say is sometimes we're so earthly minded that we're not of any earthly good. If we're properly heavenly minded, not only will we be able to be of earthly good, but it will be because we are walking closely with the Lord and then the fruit that flows from that relationship should be at times like this, thinking of each other, praying for each other, ministering to one another, helping that neighbor, helping especially maybe that elderly person in your family, or in someone else's family, or in your church, or in your community who seem to be the most especially vulnerable at this time, that flows in a Christian's life from a heart that is attached to a mind that is set squarely and firmly and doggedly on the kingdom of God and on the things of God. And so what I want to do today is I want to talk for just a few minutes to you about having our minds set on his kingdom. All right. So let's bow before the Lord and pray. And then I just have three passages of scripture that I want to read. for you, and hopefully this will be a blessing to you. Wherever you are, let's turn to the Lord in prayer together. Our Father in heaven, dear Lord God, we pray that in the midst of the difficult, unusual for us and trying circumstances that we find ourselves in as a society and even as a church, That you would help us, Lord, to keep our minds fixed on you. And that we would have the peace and the comfort. And the focus. The rest. That comes from having our minds on you and on your kingdom. You tell us not to be anxious for anything. But in everything by prayer. and supplication with thanksgiving to let our requests be made known to you. And, you know, the outcome of those requests are entirely in your hand, but what you do promise is peace and a supernatural peace, one that can't be explained, one that guards our hearts and our minds through Christ Jesus. Thank you for that promise. I pray for all of my dear brothers and sisters, Lord God, that we would be wise and sensible about our actions, that we would bear with each other, that we wouldn't. Use the opportunity to to to to just kind of criticize this or criticize that this is new ground for all of us, Lord, help us to love one another and be patient with one another. And bear each other's burdens and fulfill your law, the law of Christ. As we study your word today, I pray that you would use this to bring comfort and peace to all of us who have faith in Christ. If there's someone listening to this who maybe who has never come to faith in Christ, how I pray that they would see, Lord God, the need to turn to you, to turn to the gospel. to find forgiveness and reconciliation and peace and hope and eternal life and grace in you, Lord Jesus. Just before I start to read, Lord, I want to pray for all the people of the church and in a special way for the seniors, the elders among our congregation. What a great blessing to us they are. So many of them are wise and able to comfort and able to just share and use their lives in a special way to be a glory and honor to you. And our church would be in a lot of trouble without them, Lord. You have blessed them and placed them in our midst. And without naming names, I do remember, Lord God. our elder brothers and sisters, especially at this time, for they seem, we don't know it all yet, but they seem to be the most vulnerable in this situation we're in. So I pray for your protection, Lord God, over the ones in our church and over the ones in our families, in the ones in our community. Now we turn to your word, we turn to your mind, we turn to your wisdom, just for a few moments. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Jesus, when he was preaching the Sermon on the Mount, as you know, taught his disciples to pray. And I have a little game for you. When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, what is the one thing that twice came up in that prayer? And the first person on the Facebook page to post the right answer, I have a free roll of toilet paper for you. Hey, man, I've got toilet paper, I've got hand sanitizer, and I've got my Bible. That's all I need, right? All right. OK. Shall I say it? Time's up. He spoke of his kingdom. When he taught us to pray, he said, your kingdom come right towards the beginning of the prayer. And at the end of his instruction concerning prayer, he said, yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. So and of course, he wasn't giving us, as you know, a prayer to recite. He was teaching us how we ought to pray. That's very important to note, because as he taught us to pray, he opens up with our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. And then after that initial expression of worship, it was your kingdom come. And then he goes through all of the other important things and then wraps it up by saying, for yours is the kingdom. Now, what can we deduce from that? I think that when we pray, what Jesus was conveying there was that when we pray, our minds should not exclusively be on earthly matters, but on his kingdom. We were taught when we pray to yearn for his kingdom to come. We were taught to acknowledge that the kingdom was His, meaning it's not ours. The kingdom is yours. Power is yours. All glory is yours. Everything is yours. The kingdom, the kingdom. That is to say, when a Christian prays, certainly we pray about earthly matters. Of course we do. Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, right? So we pray about earthly things and things going on in our lives. But our minds should be fixed. on his kingdom. His kingdom is where he is now and he is coming again one day to make his kingdom here in that expression of it. So just from that little bit of text, it shows me that when we pray, let's make sure when we pray that we're keeping our minds focused and fixed where they need to be. You're very familiar with Colossians chapter 3 verse 2 because I quote it all the time and you're familiar with it for yourself. It says that we are to set our affections on things above. and not on things on the earth and when the Apostle Paul wrote to Titus he said that we were looking for actively looking for the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ in Titus chapter 2 there was always among Christians from the very beginning, whether it's Jesus teaching us to pray or the apostles writing and giving instruction. There was always this focus on what was yet coming. There was always this focus on the fact that we're a part of something bigger. We're part of his kingdom. Don't let your mind. In these times or in any times, we really don't need like a pandemic to teach us this. Keep your minds fixed on heavenly things and don't let yourself get all wrapped up in earthly things. How much of the joy and peace and comfort that God can give with all of his power in us? How much of that do we maybe kind of quench the spirit a little bit, which we're told not to do? How much of that do we maybe cut off a little bit from our lives because we have ourselves so burdened down with the anxieties of things in this life? Right? So I just want to encourage you with that prayer. And I want to read two passages of scripture to you now. Because I think it's important that we look at the things that Jesus said himself, which brought out this focus on his kingdom and his focus on what was yet coming, because it can really provide for you, for you who have faith in Him, comfort and peace in your life. So with that little bit of an introduction from Matthew chapter 6, let's turn over to Matthew chapter 24. Two passages of scripture where Jesus is speaking I have for you, and they're both very close together chronologically when he said them, though one of them he spoke before he was crucified, and the other one he spoke after he had been crucified and risen from the dead. First, there is this passage in Matthew chapter 24. And at this point, we're very close. Verse one, we're very close to the time when Jesus is going to go and give his life on the cross. And the Bible says that Jesus went and departed from the temple, and his disciples came up to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left. here upon another that shall not be thrown down, right? Amazing. Imagine taking Jesus to show him a bunch of buildings and saying, look, wow. Jesus, who the word, who was with God in the beginning, who created everything, who made the stones that were used to make those buildings, right? So Jesus tells them, look, you see all this? It's all going to be thrown down. Now, verse three, as he sat on the Mount of Olives, Very appropriate place to be sitting to have this conversation. More on that another time. The disciples came to him privately saying, tell us when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? So there's two questions asked there. They're thinking about the fact that Jesus said that all the stones of the temple complex were gonna be thrown down. And they come with these questions. When's it going to happen? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? And here's the answer that Jesus gives in verse four. And Jesus answered and said to them, take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name saying, I am the Christ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled for all these things must come to pass. But the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." And I have to tell you, in light of what's happening in the news, I know I said I wasn't going to talk about it, but I will insert this word here. If you're like me, at some point you've thought about this passage of Scripture maybe, and you thought about that word pestilence, so just really quickly I googled it, and the dictionary definition of the word is a contagious or infectious epidemic disease that is virulent or viral, I guess you would say, and devastating. All right? And it's just interesting that we live in times where we don't know if the current pandemic is going to result in devastation or not. That might be extreme. We really just don't know. But it's interesting that these sorts of things going on, listen, should they make us like crazy, like, oh, the end of the world is coming? Well, let me tell you a couple of things. The end of the world was already coming. That's number one. And number two, Jesus spoke of these things. And if what's going on in the world today doesn't cause us to think of the things that Jesus said, then what good are the things that Jesus said, right? I mean, we ought to be thinking about this. and turning our head to eternal things. Now listen, he says in verse nine, then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, listen to this, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations. And then the end will come. And it goes on to describe more of it. But that's all I'm going to say today. They asked Jesus, when is this going to happen? And what are the signs of your coming? He didn't necessarily specifically give them an answer when the temple would be torn down, but we know from history that that happened in 70 A.D., when the Romans came to Jerusalem. However, he does go on to describe the end, and he says what? He says that all these sorts of things will be going on, but the end is not yet. The final thing that he said, though, was what? That the gospel would be preached everywhere, and then the end would come. You see, friends, brothers and sisters, there's always trouble. There is always difficulty. There will be more. Turn your eyes to the Lord. Turn your eyes to Jesus. Trust in Him and know that the important thing above all is the gospel. The gospel is the thing that Jesus takes their attention to. This is going to happen. This is going to happen. You're going to hear of this, then this trouble. People are going to hate you. People are going to their love is going to go cold. This, this, this, this. But the gospel is going to be preached and then the end will come. Don't miss out on the gospel. The gospel is that God, in great love for a world that has largely rejected him, gave Jesus, his only begotten son, and in giving Jesus, who then laid down his life and died on the cross and then rose from the dead, in giving Jesus, God made the way that people can have the forgiveness of their sins and the promise of everlasting life. Don't miss that. What is so important about that? Listen, we're all, like with this pandemic, we're all in the same greater pandemic together, which is that we're all sinful. That's the one thing that's infected every person who's ever lived. And what the Bible teaches is that because we're sinful, What do we have? We have no right to anything before God, who is perfect and holy. What we really deserve from God is his judgment. But what God did is because he loves, loves, loves the world so much, he gave Jesus. And when Jesus, his son, came, when Jesus died on the cross, he was receiving, listen, he was receiving God's just judgment. wrath and punishment against your sins and mine. Every time I've lied, every time I've stolen, every time I've broken every one of his commandments in my life in ways I could never turn it all around or make up for it. I can't earn goodness from God. Listen, every time I've sinned, all of it multiplied by every person who's ever lived in the world. When Jesus died on the cross, He took the wrath of God, the just punishment for that sin. And he died so that now God's gift to the world is that whoever repents and puts their faith in Jesus. He will forgive all of their sins. He will come, as Jesus said, and they will make their home in him. He will give the gift of his Holy Spirit. You will be reconciled to God and you have the gift of eternal life. Keep your minds there. If you are in Christ, keep your mind on Jesus. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Turn your mind to Jesus. Turn your heart to Jesus. Even in the midst of all of the anxieties, trust Jesus and keep your mind there and find His peace. If you're not in Christ, I encourage you today, come to Him. But do you see that? Do you see how Jesus took what they had a question about something earthly, the temple being destroyed, and turned it to something spiritual, something related to his kingdom, the gospel. The gospel must be preached. One other time, after Jesus rose from the dead, the same thing happened, and I'll close with this, something very similar, not the exact same thing, but in Acts chapter 1, In Acts chapter 1, this is after Jesus had risen from the dead, verse 4 says, being assembled together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, that's his followers, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, you have heard from me. For John truly baptized with water, that's John the Baptist, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him, saying, ready? Here's the question they asked, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? Again, another question that showed what their focus was. They had become convinced, this group, by that time that Jesus was the Messiah, so they expected, okay, he's going to establish his kingdom now. So, are you going to do it now? And he said to them, what? He really didn't answer the question. He said, it's not even for you to know. It's not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father has put in his own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth." And then he ascended to heaven and angels standing there told him that just like you see him go, he will come back. So once again, a question about, Lord, are you going to establish the kingdom now? Jesus said, don't even be thinking about that. Here's what I want you to be thinking about. I want you to be thinking about how you are going to go and preach the good news of eternal salvation to people, and I am going to build my kingdom that way, by people hearing the gospel and believing and being saved. What did Jesus do in both of these instances? He took his followers who were thinking about an earthly matter, and he set their minds on his kingdom. May I say to you, brothers and sisters watching this. Would you please take the words of Christ for yourself? And turn your eyes and your hearts and your minds to his kingdom. to the fact that He is coming again one day, to the fact that if you have salvation in Christ, you have nothing to fear. If you have faith in Jesus Christ, even if some earthly trouble touches you, you are eternally safe and secure in His hands. That is His grace. That is His power. That is his will. That is his love for you. Turn your hearts and your minds to the kingdom of God. Let's pray together. Dear Father in heaven, we thank you for this time we've had together today. As we gather now, Lord, to around singing one more song, we thank you for this time. I pray that this word that has been spoken would be a great encouragement to everyone who has heard. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, our musicians are gonna come back up, and we're going to sing one last hymn together, and then we'll say goodbye, and then we'll turn it off, and I don't know what that was, and we'll see you soon. We're gonna sing the song Near, Still Near. So Ben, I encourage you, if you're watching from home, to look up the lyrics. Be the earth's only mirror, close to thy heart. I bring. me. Glory, my anchor is cast Through endless ages, ever to be Builder, my Savior, still the earth I'm going to ask Deacon Steve Brown, come on up here, and he's going to close our service in prayer. A little different today, obviously. But let's pray. Lord, we thank you for the opportunity that this technology has given us to be safe and have our service to. We thank you for your word and for the words that were brought to us this morning. We pray that you help us to take them seriously and consider them well. We thank you also that none of this has taken you by surprise at all. We thank you that you know all things. I pray for your people all across this nation and across the world, that they will take your word seriously, that they'll be careful to consider it well and to live by it, also to look out for each other and for their neighbors. We pray for our nation at this time. We pray for those who are already ill, that you'll grant healing. We pray for those who are caretakers and medical people and all of the staff that and all the things that go into that we pray that you give the doctors and the Staff wisdom as they treat this we pray Lord that you will bring us through this most of all we pray that our nation will turn once again their eyes to you and to Consider how we ought to live we thank you for these things in Jesus name. Amen That concludes our service. Thank you for watching. Thank you for all of you who came and helped. It looks like next Sunday will probably be something like this. And just hold on and watch for news as it goes along as to how things are going to go week by week. We're taking it one week at a time. All right? God bless everybody. Have a great day.