Take your Bibles and turn to Romans chapter eight. Romans chapter eight. It's good to see you. I hope and pray that today is a blessing. I'm glad we are inside and the weather is outside. Thank you, Lord. Let's pray and we will get into the word of God. Heavenly Father, Lord, I pray that you would now open our eyes that we may behold wondrous things out of thy law. Lord, again, thank you. for what we have in Christ. As Brother Whiteside just sang, I believe Jesus and I have every reason to do so. So Lord, your will be done. I pray in Christ's name, amen. Hey, I wanna tell you something real quick before we get into the word. I would very much appreciate prayer. By the way, we have people that need Prayer, Mary Carlstrom was planning on being back today. I think with weather, she is not here, but we have other people that we have been seeing as sick, difficult. My wife and I stopped by to see Vivian and Paul Green yesterday, and it was good to talk to Vivian. I praise God for other people that have stopped in there and visited. But there is something, it's not, just pray about it when you think of it. I've told you before that I'm involved in a ministry that ministers to law enforcement, including Border Patrol, but now it also includes ICE. We've all seen the demonstrations, the resistance against these men and women in ICE that have been trying to do their job, trying to protect American citizens. And it's quite galling to see people, sometimes people in places of authority, that are getting in their way. So the gentleman that runs the ministry that I'm involved in. He asked me to do a video directed to ICE. Well, it's been kind of tough to do, but finally, I got it done yesterday. I also sent it to Jennifer Ruth, because she's working with ICE there in Indiana. Say, hey, you know, just in case. But, It's going out on LinkedIn and X and other avenues directly to the men and women of ICE tomorrow. Please, I put the gospel in there briefly, but at the end, it's just under four minutes. But these people have been asking the question. People keep throwing the name Jesus at us, telling us we would never, if we, you know, if we wanted to believe Jesus, we would never be doing what we're doing. That's foolish. So I would just appreciate prayer for that. Folks, that's why we fly the Blue Lives Matter flag. I know that not every law enforcement officer is, is a good person. I mean, they need the Lord as much as all of us do, amen? So, you know, let's pray for them. That's why every time I see a black and white, every time I see a motorcycle unit, I stop and I pray for that officer because of what they wind up going through. Now that I have a sheriff, deputy sheriff that's living literally right next door, been able to find out a little bit more of what they have gone through in recent situations that the news can't talk about. And I tell you what, if those were the kind of things that you and I had to go and deal with every day, it would be hard. It really would be. So, let's read, look at Romans 8. I've got one verse that we're going to be starting with this morning. Romans 8, 29. For whom he did foreknow, that's those of us who have trusted Christ, whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate, he made a plan. He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son. Now let that sink in. Let that sink in. The title of the message this morning is The Character of Christ in Us. Those of us that are believers, the character of Christ in us matters. Look again at verse 29. He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. In other words, when we look at Jesus Christ, not only do we see him as the Son of God, not only do we see him as the Savior, our Savior, that came and paid the penalty for our sin, but because he died and rose again, he gives us life. He, believe it or not, the God that we serve, our creator, is our elder brother, that he might be firstborn among many brethren. I'm bringing this up. I felt burdened, not only for this message, this is kind of a two-parter, but I just really burdened about this. I want us thinking, those of us that came to the meetings, and we had a great group, I praise God for that, with Dwight Smith. It gave us so much to think about, so much of a challenge because of the day and age and opportunity that we live in. For that reason, we're going to be looking at this message this morning. Every message that Brother Dwight Smith preached Fantastic. By the way, those of you that went to Calvary Baptist last Sunday night and encouraged the Lutzes there, went over there. I think we had almost 20. It was fantastic. That message that Tim Schmidt preached that night was awesome, on the holiness of God. Now, these things that we talk about, these things are not all that popular. You know, there's a lot of things that are changing in culture. I don't wanna go really far with this. Remember when we woke up on 9-11, and all of a sudden, I mean, so much, you know, had happened, boom. And next thing you know, I mean, things just changed. I praise God for how people were standing up and getting their patriotic edge again. It's waned some, but I was glad for that. But I wasn't glad for the attack. Let's just stop and remember, everybody, Let's stop and remember that sometimes there are things that pow! I mean, all it takes is a matter of moments. It's different. The attack on Pearl Harbor was different, but there are also some things that They come in, maybe sometimes somebody feels like they're creeping in, but they are definitely on the march and they are changing us. Now, it was humbling and I rejoice that the Lord called me to be a pastor. I don't deserve it, I still don't. but I take seriously what I have here. But in all honesty, there is one thing I don't like about being a pastor. I don't like wearing this. I hate, I have always hated wearing a tie. I wanna be like Bob, wearing an old guy's rule shirt. But I've thought, you know what? If I'm going to be coming to worship my God, and especially getting behind this pulpit, I want to give of my best to the master, as the song says. There is a reality that we need to be waking up to. Now, the biggest thing that is kind of fascinating me right now is AI. There are some people that, I mean, they're all thrilled about it. There are also other people, they're terrified with the changes that are coming in the next several years. In fact, there's changes that are already taking place because of AI. It's amazing to me. I punch in something about cancer, a different cancer treatment, this or that, and next thing you know, pew. AI says, and it gives me a general answer to everything. But there's coming a time when it's going to be changing life so incredibly. Now, me personally, I know what the change is. And the change is this, the ushering in of that seven year tribulation. Satan is going to have a great tool on this earth, not too far from now. But we're not there yet. I don't know when the Lord's coming, but I do know this. There are things that are taking place. How many of you have ever noticed, and it concerns me, how many of you have ever noticed road rage? Didn't that get you? I mean, you know, people just, bam! Next thing you know, if somebody cuts them off, or you're going too slow, or whatever, we have seen people, I've seen people, that I mean, they'll give you a gesture, they will, you know, mouth it to you, you know, they'll zip through vehicle, you know, and they're angry. or somebody can do something and it triggers in them something. And it's like, what in the world is going on? I just watched a video where here's this lady, nice lady driving home on an evening on the freeway in her Tesla. Young man comes up, cuts her off, stops her, jumps out of the car and starts beating on with his feet the front of her car. Why? Because she was driving a Tesla. There's a Greek term for that, it's called stupid. Have you seen anything like that yet, Alfred? Praise God, I'm glad for that. But there's, you know, you stop and consider how people are getting angry. And it's not just road rage. It's how people are treating other people. Now, from a distance, this can almost seem like, and I hate to say this, a little form like entertainment. Oh, there's a video. I'm seeing something, somebody, they're losing it on an airplane before the airplane takes off or after the airplane takes off and they've got to land and get this person arrested. I like it when it's a distant, you know, I like it when it's not me. I'm watching it on the computer, but this is growing. Now, wait a minute. If you believe Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, say amen. For that reason, this is what I'm thinking. And after the meetings that we've had, folks, I've got some scripture to take you through. Please bear with me. This is important. But we have some things to consider as God's people. because the character of Christ, like we've read just now, the character of Christ matters. Out there, language is deteriorating. I'm getting sick of what I'm reading, even on Facebook at times. Just take people out. I'm tired of the worst of language that is coming out. You know, I'm watching some people, you know, they're talking about certain things. And if I was there, I feel like saying this, would you shut up? There's ladies present. And then I realized it's a lady that's saying it. It's just, it's gotten like this. By the way, perversion, the same thing. By the way, let me make this statement. Remember when they were calling for marriage equality? That was not the focus. It was going beyond that, and I'm not gonna talk about what I believe was the focus. But Satan knows how to twist, distort, and pervert. We know that. That again is a reason why there needs to be a testimony Remember when a certain governor from Arkansas ran for president? And remember there were certain things that were coming out about him? And so there were people that were bringing up arguments for and against. And one of them was bringing up a question. Does character matter? Let me ask you something. Does character matter? Where is character then going to come from? Are we going to expect the government schools to teach it? How about government individuals? I've seen some things I wish I could slap their faces, tell them you quit talking like that. It needs to come from God's people. There are great quotes out there about character. Phillips Brooks said, character may be manifested in great moments, but it is made in small moments. Like getting together in a local fellowship, reading the word and thinking, you know, I need to obey that. When I was growing up, there was a fantastic a coach at UCLA where my dad was a plumber, the coach of the UCLA Bruins, the basketball team. He said this, John Wooden, for you old timers that remember him, be more concerned with your character than with your reputation. Your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are. By the way, he led several of his players to Jesus Christ. I met one of them once. Phenomenal man of God. D.L. Moody, character is what you are in the dark. Character is a by-product. It is produced in the great manufacture of daily duty. President Woodrow Wilson said that. Basically this, character is molded by choices. And folks, that's why even being here right now, again, we make these daily choices. Think about the choices that we have in our lives that make a difference. Trusting God is a choice. Loving who we are commanded to love is a choice. Being an example, sharing the gospel is a choice, but it is given by command. Here, we're thinking about character. Is it, well, stop and consider this, David, When confronted with the opportunity, he made the right choice for character. Psalm 119, 59. I thought on my ways. I thought on my ways. And then David wrote, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies. I thought, I meditated on what my God said, I heard his word and I responded accordingly. Jeremiah encouraged Israel in the book of Lamentations, let us search and try, put them to the test, try our ways and turn again to the Lord. Remember the quote I read you last week that Pastor Paul Chappell had seen in Houston at the mission, their mission control. I love this because it has everything to do with what we're going to be looking at. But he walked into a room and there over the door going into mission control was this. This is our mission statement. To always be aware that suddenly And unrepentantly, we may find ourselves in a role where our performance has ultimate consequences, where what we do counts. Now, we've got Americans that are in an uproar with what's going on in the nation, for instance, with air traffic control. My soul, yesterday, Another military plane came within 500 feet of a Delta flight out of Reagan National Airport. I don't know if I want to fly into there again. 500 feet. My soul. We need people that are sharp. Air traffic controllers need to be mindful of the decisions that they're making. God's people need to do the same because your neighbor, your coworker, your relative needs to see, listen for it, Christ in you, the hope of glory. He's the only hope. Daniel said this, or this was said of Daniel, excuse me, in Daniel 1.8. But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank. Now, just stop and consider. At this time, Daniel is just a teenager. What's the big deal? A decision was made that had repercussions for decades. Daniel absolutely had an incredible, incredible impact on that area of the world because of his testimony. I believe that the wise men who traveled to see Christ came because hundreds of years ago, Daniel prophesied, Daniel taught about their God, his writings were there, and they said, we're going to check this out, what Daniel had spoken of so long ago. I believe with all my heart, I believe that has foundation to it. Then in Daniel chapter three, remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Verse 16, Daniel three. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, who by the way at the time was the mightiest man on earth, humanly speaking, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. Many of you know the story behind this. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy God. Now, do you realize with what they said there? That was an automatic death sentence, humanly speaking. But it was a choice that was made because of character. And millions are inspired by that right now, because character matters. And the impact that we will be having on this world, and I'm talking God's people in general, around the world matters. Listen, some of the most important portions of scripture are about godly character. Are we listening? Maybe not. Well, I hope you are. Moses, remember him? Exodus 32, 26. Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, who is on the Lord's side? Let him come unto me. And there was the response. That's why when I was in my early twenties, I found a board on the job site. I got lettering, took my router and made the sign that is over the door in between my office and my wife's office, right there, old piece of wood, who is on the Lord's side. Then later, he wrote this in Deuteronomy. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life and death. In a manner of speaking, that's what we go through at times here in this very place. It's not because I'm important. I'm reading the word of God. But through the word of God, we get a choice. I place this before you. Life, death, blessing, cursing. Therefore, choose life. Amen? That's important. That's important. I'm just, see, I'm just looking down the road. And not only am I seeing it in the immediate area, even as now the walls have started to crumble a little bit with our neighbors and we're able to speak to them and give them the gospel and give them an invitation to church. but seeking in the longterm to be a testimony, to show them the love of Christ. Why? Because it's the character of Christ that matters. And that's why Christ in you is the hope of glory. Not your glory, not my glory, His glory. That's why. It's not up to somebody else. It's up to us. There was Joshua, Joshua 24, 15. Many of you know this verse. And if it seemed evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve. At the end of that verse, he said, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. That comes out of a conviction born of godly character. Somebody said this, you can choose. When you have to make a choice and don't make it, that is in itself a choice. That's where character starts to wane. Now, I look forward to heaven. I want to be here as long as I can, you know, irritate the grandkids, irritate my two daughters and my son. There's, you know, all kinds of good stuff. I can say that right now because they're listening, few of them. But I'm looking forward to heaven. Why? No more sin. None. I rejoice in that, no more sin, nor more failing and falling. But while I'm here and while you're here, it behooves us to stop and think, okay, here is a temptation. It might be something small to us, it might be something big, whatever, whatever it could be. but somebody is going to be impacted by our choices. Let's think of that. Guys, it could be the pornography on the internet or even on your phone that you're looking at. It could be the choice in how you treat your spouse. Ladies, that's the same for you. For all of us, it could come down to how we treat other people in general. What are people going to see? By the way, how many of you have struggled sometimes with your choices? My hand is up. How many of you have ever been tempted with road rage? Especially when I'm driving my truck. And somebody comes along in a Tesla. I'm just kidding. I'm just, no, I'm just kidding. This is important. Every day, our choices, based on our character, go out like ripples in the water. Folks, it's that important. Listen, choices tell the Lord where your heart is. born of character. Choices tell others where your heart is, born of character. Choices set in motion your destiny. Not only your destiny, but those that are affected by it. Many years ago, there was an NBA player, great player, but he got saved. His name was A.C. Green. A.C. Green said this, when he became a Christian, he resolved to keep his purity. He said this, quote, we all have the power of choice. Now again, choice and character, very close. Very close. One feeds the other. We all have the power of choice. But once used, our choice then has the power over us. It's molded our character. We will never stop AIDS, the AIDS epidemic, until we stop promiscuity. He went on to say this. Magic Johnson was diagnosed with HIV in 1991, and most of the team went in for testing. He said, I didn't. Choice. Now, we can make a choice of character for the sake of self. What did, if you go to Genesis 13, they had contention between them. Abraham went to Lot and said, look, you choose, I'll go the other direction. Verse 12 in Genesis 13 says this, Abraham dwelled in the land of Canaan and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain. And this is one of the saddest phrases in the Bible, and pitched his tent toward where? We've read the story. Those of you that have ever read your Bibles through in the book of Genesis, we know what happened. Why? Because somebody in the Old Testament played like Demas in the New Testament, pitched his tent towards Sodom and he lost everything. He didn't lose his salvation. The Bible calls him just lot. He was worn down in his character because of what he had done. But he's in heaven. Lord knows. I don't know if there's ever an opportunity to go, boy, if I had to do over again. But the point is this, he chose for self and that's what took place. But then we can choose for others. Now, please listen to these. This, again, is David. Psalm 9, verse 1. Listen, I want you to take note to at least one of these. Take your Bibles, turn to Psalm 9. I don't want you to sit there looking at me. I'm not that much to look at. Don't respond. But just look at what David wrote. It's Psalm 9, look at verse 1. I will praise Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart. Now that's directed to God. I will praise Thee, O Lord, but then he says this. I will show forth all Thy marvelous works. That's before mankind. That was his choice. Verse two, I will be glad and rejoice in thee. That's heavenward. I will sing praise to thy name. O thou most high. Again, Roger just sang a song. I believe Jesus. That's a testimony directed to the Lord, but before you, within your hearing, that is his declaration. When we sing the hymns, it is our declaration of what we believe about our God. We are singing and making melody one with another, the Bible says. We're encouraging each other. How many of you, you've ever recognized sometime that when we're singing a hymn, we're singing a chorus, the words speak. Why? Because they reflect the promises of God, the love of God, anything like that. That's why that's important. David knew how to choose, excuse me, how to choose to glorify God before others. Again, that's character. Psalm 105, verse one. Listen to this. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord. Call upon his name. Listen, make known his deeds among the people. How many of you, the Lord has ever answered a prayer for you? Say amen. I praise God for his faithfulness, even going in to what I'm getting ready to go through. In two and a half weeks, they're going to start the immunotherapy. I'm not trusting immunotherapy, I'm trusting God. God is good. He's also opened up another door. I'll talk about that some other time. But the point is this, we all find times when we need, when we recognize how the Lord brought us to a point where we have opportunity, that in spite of all that's around us, we can trust God. In fact, we are commanded to. so that we can respond again with not only David, but also Isaiah, I will trust and not be afraid. Excuse me. I thought I was doing well. If anybody wants a cough that affects your throat, I'll be glad to hand this one off to you. You'll be just great stuff. Even under the great threat, the disciples who had a Christ-like character, they came through. Acts 4, Peter and John answered and said unto them, whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. Now, what we've seen and heard, he's talking about what they saw in Christ. What have you seen and heard in your God? I have seen, I have heard the love that he has for me. Now, again, there are people out there, they need that. I was thrilled before we went visiting yesterday. We came into the church and there were some people from the Russian church across the street who were standing on this corner, hadn't really thought about this all that much, but young people and adults, several of them, on this corner with the gospel in English. I thought that's fantastic. That is great. Maybe we need to take that corner over sometime. I think that'd be a good idea. God has chosen to use for his glory with others in mind. Remember when Paul said to the church at Corinth, God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. That's us. We might not be the brightest bulb on the tree, but we have the brightness of the sun. God's chosen, James said, the poor of this world to be rich in faith. We don't have any multimillionaires in here, not that I know of, but I do know this. There are people that have come in and out of this church that have a trust for the Lord I love. That's what matters, folks. That's what matters. The character of Christ. your character with the mind of the Savior, and I'm almost done. When following Christ and his ministry, he showed us how to choose, choose for godly character. He said, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, literally deny himself utterly and take up his cross and follow me. It's hard to take up a cross, but you know what? We are dead to this world anyway. We're alive in him. This world is not my home. Let's grab that. Let's recognize that. You cannot take to heaven with you anything from here except the souls of loved ones and people that you have shared the gospel with. This is what is important. When he taught us to pray, he said this, this is how you pray. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done. Even Christ had this character and praise God for it. When he said in Luke 22, as he was praying to the father, he withdrew himself, the Bible says about a stone's cast from the disciples. He knelt down and he prayed this, father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me, nevertheless, Not my will, but thine be done. Aren't you glad the Lord made that choice? Why? Because he's God. That was his choice. So in conclusion, let's remember this. Character matters. Whose character do we want to display? A worldly character? whatever we choose there, or the character of Christ. Now folks, do you believe in heaven? Say amen. Now wait a minute. Do you believe in hell? Revelation 20, 15, whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. That's Bible. That's Bible. That's why we preach it, teach it, and seek to reach others with it. It is a passion for God's people who have come to Christ, truly come to Christ, and he has changed their lives. So character matters. Godly character matters. So let me ask you, Who is on the Lord's side? How long halt you between two opinions? Remember the words of Elijah? Joshua, choose you this day whom ye will serve. Why is that important to us? It is written in Revelation 22, and behold, I come quickly and my reward is with me. To give every man or woman, to give every man according as his work shall be. Godly character recognizes the responsibility and the opportunity. And we have both. Let's pray.