all to do, the thing we are charged to do, the thing we are blessed to do, the thing we're privileged to do, so we can come together in his name, the name that is above all names. The scripture says, at that name, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And so we have an opportunity as called out believers to lift up that name, to bless that name, to worship that name. And like I said it all the time, more and more, that name is being blasphemed among the unbelievers. It's being misrepresented amongst unbelievers. And so we wanna rightly represent him. We wanna rightly be used to worship and adore him as he deserves. So with that, let's all stand to our feet. And let us be the royal priests that we're called to be. The holy nation, the peculiar people, chosen generation, called out of darkness into the marvelous light. So we all have different testimonies of the darkness that he brought us from, but we also have testimonies of the fact that he opened up our blinded eyes, caused us to see, gave us new life, gave us a new heart and new mind. And now he's given us a new way. We're getting our minds renewed. We're being the new creation he's called us to be. And it's a blessing to be part of the recreation. And so God is good, God is good. And so we're gonna wanna worship and praise him. We believe when we come together in his name, he shows up in a way that he otherwise doesn't do in our individual, not to say that we don't have individual encounters with God, but the fact of the matter is that it's his desire that we come together in his name. It is desire that we come together and forsake not the assembling of ourselves. So with that said, Lord, we bless you. we honor you and we worship you lord hallelujah hallelujah scripture says i will bless the lord at all times and his praise shall continually be in my mouth another scripture said i was glad when they said unto me let us go into the house of the lord so we want to be in a heart of rejoicing We want to be in a heart of gratitude and thanksgiving. Hallelujah. You said be thankful in all things for this is the will of God concerning the in Christ Jesus. So Lord God, regardless of our circumstances, some difficult, some easy, some whatever the situation is, we want to have a heart of gratitude. Hallelujah. We want to have a heart of rejoicing and worship and celebration. Hallelujah. Worshipping our God and our Savior. Hallelujah. We know that we said many of the afflictions of the righteous, but you deliver us from them all. And so we all have testimonies of your delivering hand time after time again. Hallelujah. We have testimonies, Lord God, of overcoming situations that we would otherwise succumb to. but because of your overcoming power because of your resurrection power hallelujah the things that would otherwise keep us down hallelujah you raised us up hallelujah and we have not we have no way to glory in ourselves our ability our initiative our whatever lord god our strategies lord god there were so many situations that were beyond our ability beyond our our pay grade to be able to handle, but you showed up. Hallelujah. And so, Lord God, we just thank you, Lord God, for that experiential knowledge. that I may know him in the power of his resurrection, in the fellowship of his suffering, being made conformable unto his death. And so through it all, Lord God, we forget those things which are behind, and we reach toward those things which are before us, and we press toward the call of the high calling which is in Christ Jesus. Hallelujah. We press, Lord God. Hallelujah. We know there's opposition. Hallelujah. We're nowhere in a spiritual battle. Hallelujah. But you've equipped us. Hallelujah. And so Lord God, right now, Lord God, we press and we praise. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. With a heart of gratitude. Hallelujah. We're a heart. We're a church that's grieving, but we're also a church that's grateful. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. So right now, Lord God, while we know that our loved ones that went before us are standing before the throne room, crying out, holy, holy, holy, we want to come together with them and all the angels and all the saints that went before us, Lord God, and we want to cry out, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. So Lord, let this time be a reverential time. Let it be sanctified, Lord God, a gathering, Lord God, of gratitude, a gathering, Lord God, of people who know, hallelujah, that we're redeemed and called out people that are bold to say so. Hallelujah. So Lord God, let just bubble up out of this. You said, believe on me and out of your belly will flow rivers of living water. So let it just burst forth Lord, like a dam Lord God. Hallelujah. And let us just overflow with joy and peace and righteousness in your presence. Hallelujah. In Jesus name. Amen. Bless the Lord. So we're going to read together. If I can get it together. Okay, we're gonna read from Psalms 101, one through eight. I will sing of mercy and judgment unto thee, O Lord, will I sing. I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. Oh, well, when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. I hate the work of them that turn aside. It shall not cleave to me. A froward heart shall depart from me. I will not know a wicked person. Who privileged slandereth his neighbor? Him will I cut off. Him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer. Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me. He that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house. He that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight. I will early destroy all the wicked of the land that I may cut off all the wicked doers from the city of the Lord. Bless the Lord for his word. Bless God, bless God. And let's welcome Keisha as she helps us to rejoice in song. Good afternoon, everyone. We're going to rejoice in song. I love that. The pastor said, we are grieving yet grateful. How many grateful folks in the house today? Just grateful for the love and the strength and all the things that the Lord has been so gracious to us in providing. Amen. I don't know what we need there. Well, listen, we're gonna just worship the Lord. How about that? Hi, this is a moment where we get to just get ready to worship the Lord. In this time of worship, those of you who are streaming with us online, we worship the Lord from a place of knowledge, knowing who He is, who He has been to us, the ways that He's made for us, the doors that He's opened, the ones that He's closed. We worship Him from all of those spaces because He is worthy and because we know that His plan for us is perfect. So you might see us raising our hands and that means we are surrendering Lord to whatever your will is and we are worshiping you with all that we have. You might hear someone say hallelujah or thank you Jesus. It is because we are declaring the wonderful awesomeness of our God and we're using all the words in our language to describe how we feel inside about what he has done for us. Hallelujah. So don't be don't be shy. Don't feel like you can't We clap our hands because we are rejoicing in the Lord. Hallelujah. The Bible says that David rejoiced so much that he came out of his clothes. We're going to ask you to keep yours on. However, we're going to exclaim and express and declare the works of the Lord in the land of the living that have been on our behalf. And so if you are wondering, what are those folks doing? That's what we're doing. We are rejoicing and praising the name of the Lord. All right. So let's sing. It is amazing grace that has us here today, that keeps us going and moving. Hallelujah. So we're going to declare that today. The oldie but a goodie. Hallelujah. So just sing with us. Let's sing together. Who breaks the power of sin and darkness? Whose love is mighty and so much stronger? The King of glory, the King above all kings. Hallelujah. who shakes the whole earth with holy thunder and leaves us breathless in awe and wonder the king of glory the king above all kings here we go this is this is amazing grace this is unfailing love you would take my place, that you would bear my cross. He bore our cross, hallelujah. You laid down your life, that I might be set free. Oh, Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me. He's done so much for us. He's made so many ways out of no way. That is why we worship the Lord. Hallelujah. Let's sing. Who brings our chaos back into order? Who makes an orphan a son and daughter? The King of glory. Who rules the nations with truth and wonder? Shines like the sun in all of its brilliance. The King of glory, the King above all kings. Here we go. This is amazing grace. This is unfailing love. Thank you, Lord. That you would take my place. That you would bear my cross. You laid, you laid down your life. That I might be set free. Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me. This is amazing grace. Let's declare. This is amazing grace. This is unfailing love. His love never fails that you would take my place. that you would bear my cross. You lay down. Yes, you lay down your life, Lord, that I might be set free. Oh, Jesus, I sing for you. all that you've done for me. Now this next part just declares that he is worthy. He is the worthy lamb that was slain. And we're just declaring alongside of the angels. Worthy is the lamb that was slain. Worthy is the king who conquered the grave. Let me hear you say it. Worthy is the lamb who was Worthy is the king who conquered the grave. Worthy is the lamb who was slain for the sins of the world. Worthy is the king who conquered the grave. Worthy is the lamb who was slain. Worthy, worthy, worthy. This is amazing grace. Hallelujah. This is unfailing love. This is what it looks like. That you would take my place. that you would bear my cross. Lord, you laid, you laid down your life, yes, that I might be set free. Oh, Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me. Thank you, Lord, everything that you've done. Oh, I sing, Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me. And I'm grateful, Lord, I sing all that you've done for me. We are grateful people. Hallelujah. It doesn't matter what we have, what we don't have. We are grateful. But because we know that everything is in the Lord's hands, that he is guiding us, he is going before us, he is shielding us, he is protecting us, he is leading us. Hallelujah. So we can sing for all that he's done for us. We can bless his name. We can give him glory. And we don't have to wait to do that. We can lift our hands wherever we are and honor him. God, you are worthy. You are worthy, Lord of worship. You are worthy of praise, Lord. Be glorified. With my hands lifted up. We can all sing together. And my mouth filled with praise With the heart of thanksgiving I will bless thee, O Lord With my hands lifted up And my mouth filled with praise And with the heart of Thanksgiving, I will bless Thee, O Lord. I will bless Thee, O Lord. I will bless Thee, O Lord. I will bless Thee, O Lord. With the heart of Thanksgiving, I will bless thee, O Lord. I will bless thee. I will bless thee. I will bless thee, O Lord, in good times and bad times. With the heart of thanksgiving, giving, I will bless thee. We're telling ourselves, I will bless Thee, O Lord. I will bless Thee, O Lord. Yes. I will bless Thee, O Lord. With the heart of thanksgiving. With the heart of thanksgiving. I will bless thee, oh Lord. With my hands lifted up, hands lifted up, and my mouth filled with praise. Yes. With the heart of thanksgiving, heart of thanksgiving, I will bless thee. This is what it looks like to be grateful. With my hands lifted up. Yes, Lord. And my mouth filled with your praise, Lord. Yes. With the heart of thanksgiving, giving, I will bless thee. Let's do that one more time. Hallelujah, Lord. With my hands lifted up. Lift it up. Thank you, Lord. And my mouth filled with your praise. With the heart of Thanksgiving. I will bless thee. I will bless thee, O Lord. I will bless thee. I will bless thee, O Lord. I will bless you, Lord. With the heart of thanksgiving, always grateful, Lord, I will bless thee. Let's do that one more time. I will bless thee, O Lord. I will bless thee, O Lord. Yes. I will bless thee, O Lord, with the heart of I will bless thee, I will bless thee, O Lord. Hallelujah, Lord. You are worthy of worship, Lord, and we are blessing your name. We are blessing your name, Lord. Hallelujah, because you are worthy, Lord. Receive our worship, Lord. Receive our praise, Lord. Receive the fruits of our lips, Lord, as they flow from our hearts, Lord God. Be glorified, be honored, Lord. Be lifted high and receive every ounce of glory that you can, Lord God, from this place, from our hearts, from us, Lord God, individually and collectively. Thank you, Lord. You may have your seats, Transforming Love Christian Center. Thank you so much for joining us here today. We're so happy to see your faces. We're always glad when we see you coming in the door. It just puts a smile on our faces. And those of you who are visiting us via stream, we are also happy that you stopped by. We don't take it lightly that everybody is streaming and you could be at any person's service right now, but you are here with us. And so we believe, God, that there is an appointment here for you today and that you are going to hear a word that will change your heart, change your mind, and cause you to walk in the direction closer to the Lord. And so we're happy to be a part of that journey with you. You can visit us at our website at www.transforminglovecc.org. That was a lot, but you should see it on the bottom of your screen. And that's where you'll learn all things TLCC, who we are, what we believe, who our leaders are. You can also click on the Bible study tab. That's a Bible studies Thursday nights, 7 p.m. via Zoom. And so if you click on there, you can get plugged in and we'll get that information to you. Also, you can click on the donate tab and we want to thank all of you who have been faithful in giving to this ministry, whether in person or online. There are two ways that we have listed out there for you. One is via the PO box and you can send a check or money order there. Please fill out your checks and money orders fully correctly. I know we have a TLCC way that we call ourselves, but our name really is Transforming Love Christian Center. So please follow those instructions on the website. If you need assistance with Zelle, it goes from your account into the ministry. Those instructions are listed, but we're happy to support you in any way that we can as well with that. With that being said, this is a great opportunity for you to silence your cell phones as the word of the Lord is coming up next. Also, if you are in need of prayer, there are prayer cards on the back table there. Feel free to fill one out and hand it over to any of our greeters and they'll be able to get it where it's supposed to go. If you are online, simply go to contact us and you can send your prayer request that way. We are a praying church and we'd love to intercede on your behalf and on behalf of your family and friends because we believe that God is answering prayers today. And so we are happy to pray and do what God has called us to do in that area. With that being said, it's been a beautiful time worship with you this morning so far. And I know that the word is going to take us even further. So have a wonderful day here at TLCC. In this In this place, Lord, be glorified. Be glorified today. In this place, Lord, be glorified. Come on, sing with me. In this place. In this place, Lord, be glorified. Be glorified today. In my thoughts, Lord, In my thoughts, Lord, be glorified. Be glorified today. In all of my ways. In my ways, Lord, be glorified. In my decisions, be glorified. Today, Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Father, we come before you thanking you for your many blessings. In this rather interesting season that you have this church in, Lord, we still glorify you. We still give you honor and praise. Because there are so many things that you have allowed to happen, but yet there are so many things that you would not let be so. And for that, God, we are grateful. It could have been so much worse, God. We could be dealing with so many other things that are beyond our control, Lord. But you are still sitting on your throne, and you are sovereign over every single circumstance. every single trial. You do not give us more than we can handle, Father. Through your Spirit, we can do all things, God. You've made us more than conquerors, God. And so we trust in you today, God, to deliver us to that place, to that time, to that way of thinking, Father, to that perspective, Father, that most glorifies and honors you. to a way of thinking, God, that is truthful of your character, that speaks truth about who you are, God. And the truth is, Father, that in spite of what we are dealing with today, Father, in spite of any pain or issues or circumstance, Father, you are yet and still good, God. You are yet and still on the throne. You are yet and still able to sanctify, to deliver, to transform, God. And so today I come to you thanking you, Father, for your many blessings, Father. I'm still in my right mind. I'm still healthy. Those situations that could have taken me out did not take me out, God. I'm grateful to you, God, because you have been good to this church. You've been good to your people, God. And so today we are grateful, God, and we glorify you, God. We thank you for what you're going to do through this sermon, Father. We thank you for how you're going to bless. We ask that your Holy Spirit will now move in such a way that we are transformed, that we are renewed, that we are refreshed, that we are charged to move forward in you, Father. This day and in this hour, we thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ, who has given us everything that we have. Father, everything. He has purchased us. He has given us life and life abundantly, Father. We praise you, Jesus, because you deserve all the glory and all the honor and praise. Thank you for dying for us, and thank you for getting up for us, God. Hallelujah. Thank you for dying for us, and thank you for getting up for us, rising again. And because of you, because you are risen, Father, we rise. knowing that this is now our heritage, this is now our inheritance. We thank you for what you're going to do. In Jesus' name we pray, amen, amen. Amen. I want to say to everyone from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for all the birthday love, all the gifts, all of the cards, especially the pies. I got one slice, Eduardo, one slice. I'm sticking to the plan. My trainer is here today. He will not allow me to sweet potato pie myself into the grave. So I'm grateful to my church and all of those who have sent gifts and those who are online. Thank you so much for all your love and all the birthday wishes. Thank you so much. I want to come from Ephesians. The fifth chapter, again, there's a portion of scripture that I want to really, really focus on this morning. I've preached some of this before, because I've preached all the way through Ephesians, but there's something that's kind of popping out to me this time, and I want to take some time just to go through it. Ephesians, the fifth chapter, coming out of mostly the English Standard Version, the ESV today. When you have it, say amen. Did I send it to you, Keisha? Verse 15 through 18, I'm sorry. Verse 15 through 18, yeah, there we go, okay. Ephesians 5, 15, and the Word of God reads, look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise. Making the best use of the time. Say that with me. Making the best use of the time. Why? Because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit. Amen? Amen. I really struggled to put this sermon together this morning. I struggled this week because I'm dealing with, as some of you also are dealing with, a myriad of emotions right now concerning the anniversary of my dear wife's departure. It is only days away. And that is somewhat, if I could be totally honest with you, pause my mental faculties. What I normally do to get my sermons together, I'm just a little bit slower today. And I ask the Lord to remove some of this that I'm feeling, and he decided not to. So, you know, hey, he has seen fit to let me preach through it. So, in spite of what I'm feeling this morning, I do what I know how to do, which is get up to the pulpit and open my mouth and see what the Holy Spirit says. Amen? Amen. Now, there are many things that we lose. There are things that happen during the grief process, as Pastor Rick so appropriately put it, because he understands what we're dealing with. He's lost quite a few people as well. But when it comes to grief, there's one aspect of grief that is rather sneaky, and that's regret. Right? We went through our class, Ms. Beverly, regret. And housed inside The feeling of regret is this concept of wasted time. Wasted time, amen. There are many things that we lose when we lose people. Some things will come back to us again. Some things we cannot get back again. One thing that never comes back is lost time. Once it's passed, it's gone. Amen? And when I think of my life over the last several years, the loss of my father, several members of my family, recently our dear Ruth Barron, my sister, my father-in-law, the children's grandfather, on both sides. the loss of my wife, sometimes I get stuck in the shoulda, coulda, wouldas, you know? Shoulda done this, coulda done that, you know? And I know that that's not a profitable place to be. Nevertheless, there are some lessons that we learn, amen, when we lose people about wasting precious time. Amen. Anybody in? Amen. So that's the topic of today. I want to talk to you today about the danger of procrastination. Lord, you just hit it. Wow. The danger I did not have the title until just right now. Thank you, Holy Spirit. Wow. The danger, that's the right word I want to use, of procrastination. Amen? According to gotquestions.org, one of my favorite sites that I go to just to kind of check in and make sure things are biblically lined up, procrastination is the act of willingly delaying the doing of something that should be done. Procrastination is the act of willingly or willfully delaying the doing of something that should be done. Now, we know because we've studied the Bible and we've been taught in this church some very strong truths about who God is and his character. We know that God is sovereign and God never wastes anything. Amen? Not one tear, not one experience. God never wastes time. Amen? However, that's speaking of the attributes and character of our powerful, all-knowing, everywhere God. Not so much with his creation. Amen? We can waste time, we can waste years. Amen? There were some years where, if you were honest with yourself, you spent too much time with some people. Amen? There was some person that you were trying to figure out, you're looking back right now, why did I spend that much time on that Negro? What was I thinking? I don't even want that person anymore. What was I doing? Right? Spend all your money on this or that, chasing after this, chasing after that, buying this, buying that. You know, I said it before, you got a whole garage full of stuff that you should have never even bought. Can't sell it to nobody, can't get rid of it, just a bunch of wasted time and energy, and you were so focused, I've got to have this, got to buy that, got to purchase this, and it's just sitting in the garage with all the rest of the spiders. Junk, right? We don't even want that stuff anymore, right? Why do we hang out with those friends? You know, we thought they were so important if I could just be in with them, if I could just hang out with them. We have so much in common. We're not even the same people anymore. Wasted time, wasted time, energy, time. God doesn't waste anything. However, that's not true for us. We can waste decades. Amen? Amen. If we're not careful. Amen. I have this fear. And it's a fear of mine, and I don't know for certain, maybe some of you biblical scholars in here, if it's totally biblical, but this is just a fear that I have. And I don't know if I can support it by a verse, it's just not coming to mind. But I think the concept is kind of close to me, right? But let me just share it with you, maybe because you can relate to it. I have this fear of going to heaven and having to explain to Jesus my time card. This is something that, you know, I deal with every now and then, you know, having to submit a report for the time that I used while I was here on this planet. There were years where there was fruitfulness, and there were years where I was efficient, and there was a bunch of other stuff. I'm talking about after being saved. I'm not talking about, you know, not being born again. You got a new start and there were times and days and seasons after your relationship with Jesus Christ where you just wasted a bunch of time and happened to go to Jesus and say, well, you know, this part, you know what I was doing, but this part I really can't really account for. And it's just a fear of mine. I already know that Jesus knows everything. So it's not like I would probably have to explain, but this is something that's deep inside of me that I struggle with every now and then, like, you know, having to go to him and explain, oh, the 90s. All of them. Just... Well, Jesus, you know. And some of y'all laughing at me, because you can add a few more tens to that. Somebody going back to the 60s and 70s was just... Church all your life and still just... There's this concept, or there's a... I'd rather say it right, Jamie. There's a word in the Greek, it's called kairos. Kairos means it's a time when conditions are right for the accomplishment of a crucial action. An opportune and decisive moment for making impact or accomplishing something. Let me give you an example. There was a Kairos opportune, perfect time when God knew because he knows all things, to come into your life and meet you at the crossroads and intersect between where you were headed versus where you should have been headed. And God showed up at the exact right time to move you from where you were going to where he wanted you to go. There was a time when he decided that this would be the perfect time to intervene and show up and give you the truth, which gives you the gospel, which causes you to be in the family of God, which changes your direction, which gives you purpose for your life. and frees you from the result of living in a certain way where you live for yourself and all the damage that it can do to your soul. There was a Kairos moment when God said, I need to step in right now. And that's what he did for every last individual who was saved. We were doing our own thing, and Jesus showed up and said, no, no further than this. I need to come in and slide in here. at this moment and stop you from destroying yourself. Yeah, that's right, that is a proper response. Tears, thank you, Jesus, because you know good and well, if it had not been for the Lord, showing up at just the right time, at just the right day to give you the gospel, to tell you the truth, to say, wait a minute, your life is not about what you thought it was, it's about serving me and you will get no pleasure living the way you used to. You only get true joy living for me. He saved you, not only from yourself, he saved you from the wrath of hell, gave you a new start, a new beginning. There was a kairos, perfect opportune time, perfect moment to make impact, to accomplish something. Amen? Amen. Now that we are saved, we have the ability to see. We're now clear where we used to be foggy and kind of like, I don't know what it's all about and going after the world and just blindly doing whatever the world says. Now there's a time where the Holy Spirit has intervened and now he lives inside of us. He causes us to see, which now creates another series of Kairos moments for you and me. an opportune time after salvation for us to respond to our Lord and Savior with immediate obedience. Amen? Where the believer is presented with two choices to either receive a blessing from God by immediate submission to his will or to have to forfeit that blessing because we decided to fall for some tricks. Delays. Detours. Distractions. Amen? Basically, sin. Amen? So, in the beginning of the fifth chapter, I'm just going to kind of walk through it really quickly. Ephesians 5, 1. Probably down to 11, maybe. Yeah, probably to 11. We'll see. that Paul is writing to are presented with somewhat of a compare and contrast. Amen? On what to do and what not to do with your time. Now that you are saved. Amen? Ephesians 5 and 1 says, therefore, because of everything that I've done for you, because of all the blessings that I've given you, now be imitators of God. as beloved children and walk in love, live in love, that word walk means live, amen, have a lifestyle of love, live in love, walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. It's the idea of living a life that smells good to God. Wow, that's an interesting concept. How do you smell? Does your life stink? Amen. Are you giving God what he wants? Amen. It's the idea of being aware of just how good God has been to you and responding in such a way that you appreciate it. Amen? Compare and contrast. This kind of reminds us of a scripture, Romans 12 and 1. You don't have to turn to it. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Amen? We know that scripture. Amen? This is the least you can do is respond to God with the time you have. not wasting that time by living in a life that smells good to God with your immediate obedience. Amen? And then verse three, Ephesians five and three says this. Now he starts to give some ideas of complete and total time wasters. Amen? Follow. But sexual immorality and impurity or covetousness must not be named among you as proper, as is proper among the saints. Let there be no filthiness or foolish talk or crude joking. Keep your drawers up. Live holy. Amen. Be with who you're supposed to be with and not who you're not supposed to be with. In a marriage context, in marriage only, ouch, equal opportunity offender up here. Amen? If you're offended, I didn't write it, but that's what the Word of God says. Amen? And that goes for the pastor and down everybody else. Amen? Come on, let's just be real. All right? So, no sexual impurity. That doesn't mean just action, but watch your thinking. Amen? There is a way to properly respond to your thoughts before you think of doing something. Because before you do it, you got to think it. Amen? There's a way to respond. And then he says, no filthiness or foolish talk or crude joking. Amen? Be careful what comes out of your mouth. That ain't funny. You thought it was funny. That's nasty. He said, no, no, no. It's out of place for who you are. But instead, there needs to be thanksgiving. Verse five, for you may be sure of this, that anyone, or everyone rather, who is sexually immoral or impure, who is covetous, which is an indulger, has no inheritance in the kingdom of God, of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, those people who just want to live in that stuff. You know, I don't even feel nothing when I just say craziness. It doesn't even bother me. It just comes flying out of my mouth. He's saying, that's not who you are. Amen? That's not how you're supposed to live. That's a complete waste of your time. Amen? Therefore, verse 7, do not become partakers with them. Don't attach yourself to folks that live in such a way that they don't honor God and don't care about honoring God. Don't hang around folks like that. Amen? Don't hang around folks who want to just completely waste the time that he's given you. Amen? If they want to do that for themselves, you pray for them, but you can't get next to that because that stuff rubs off on you, and before you know it, You start doing what they're doing, start talking what they're doing. I had a friend of mine, love her to death. I mean, in fact, one of her relatives is sitting up in here right now. But every time I got around that person, she just made me want to curse. And I couldn't even figure out what it was. I would just walk in the door, curse it. There's something about that person that brings out that in me. It's like, you know what? I don't want to talk like this. Where's that coming from? Be careful, amen? All right, verse 8. Walk in the truth. Do what is right. Do what is good. Amen? Verse 10, and here's a big one. Try to discern, oh boy, what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part of what is unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose it. Try to discern. Don't go into it yet, Jay. All right, back. Now let's go down the page to verse 15 and 18, where we are, our main text, okay, where we have our main text. Verse 15, same chapter. Look carefully then, then, because of all the stuff that I just mentioned in the fifth chapter, then because of all those things where I'm giving you an idea of what is right and what is profitable, amen, how you should live, amen, what will be a waste of your time versus what it will be, you know, something that pleases the Lord. Look carefully then how you walk, how you live, not as unwise, but as wise. Let's take it apart. Look carefully. That word carefully is not so much watching your step. Okay? That's how I think, you know, be careful where you're walking, Jamie. You don't want to slip and fall. That's kind of how we would see it. But this word here carefully means to be vigilant. Not so much so that you don't slip up or because you don't want to slip up, but it's the idea of walking with an intentionality behind every step. Okay? It means to be on the lookout. It means to walk in such a way to where you are thinking about every step of your life. You're thinking about your actions before you make them. Not just trying to be careful, but I'm intentionally deciding to do certain things. I'm intentionally deciding I'm not going to put my foot here because that's a landmine. I'm not going to put my foot here because that's a bear trap. I'm intentionally deciding to place my feet in certain places that I know are profitable. It doesn't mean just to be careful. It means to be intentional. Amen? Vigilant. Why? Because you have an enemy who would love for you to slip and fall. Amen? Amen? You have an enemy who's just waiting for you to put your foot right here, sweetie. I got you. Let's go for a little bit of a ride. And then, but not only him, if we're totally honest, our flesh. We wanna go, let's go for a ride. Come on, if we're just totally honest with ourselves, our flesh without the Holy Spirit leading us, we wanna do exactly what the devil says. Seems fun. Looks like a good time. He said, no, no, no. Intentionally, with every step. Amen. Be careful how you walk. Be intentional in where you decide to go. Be intentional in how you're going to live out your days. Be deliberate about your conduct. Be on the lookout when it comes to certain influences on your behavior. Amen. Not as unwise, not as people who lack discernment, Amen? But as wise, people who can see, people who have the ability, people who are no longer blind, someone who is clear about what they are doing, someone who is clear about what their external surroundings are and how their external surroundings affect them internally. Are you hearing what I'm saying? Someone who's clear about what is happening spiritually inside of them. You know, this is probably not a good day for me to go out. Why? Because I don't feel very strong. I need to be wise. Why? Because I know myself. I don't need to come. I need to stay myself right home, right here with these six children and chill out. if I know better, and there have been times when I have not done that, and it's been like, ooh, Jamie, come on, anybody else? When you know, and the Lord said, don't go, don't go, don't go, don't go, don't go, don't go, and you just go and go and go and go and go. Huh, wise, amen. I know where I'm headed, I know what's over there, More importantly, I know what's inside of me. Amen? And me and there don't go together in a way that it glorifies and honors God. Okay? So I have to be careful with that. I have to make decisions. You know, I have to look carefully, walk intentionally, intentionally as a wise person. Amen? Making, verse 16, the best of the time. I don't have the time to be as foolish and as crazy as I'd like to be. I don't want to waste my time. I don't want to waste the time that God has given me. Why don't I want to do that? Because the days are evil. Each day brings its open doors and it has great potential. Redeeming the time means buying back the time. Living lives noted for holiness, deeds of mercy, amen? Words that we speak of help. What lends to special urgency of this matter is the evil character of the days which we live in. We see all kinds of stuff going on around us and we're going, you know, I can't believe that we're already here. I can't believe folks are already doing this. I am blown away by what folks think we should be doing right now, how people think we should live. This is acceptable to you? Yes. In fact, I'm going to go vote for it tomorrow. You know what I'm saying? I can't believe some of the things that people are comfortable with. And in the way people are raising their children, we can see that there's wars and rumors of wars. There's things happening all around us. Don't just pay attention to what's happening in America. Look around and see what's happening around America. And you'll begin to understand, you know what? It is not time to play around. It's getting a little scary out there. These companies are doing things. These countries are doing things. These dictators are doing things. America's turning their back on God in ways that we never thought they would, and we think we can go out and have a party? No. Walk carefully, intentionally, because the days are evil. He's saying it's obvious. that the time is winding up. It's obvious. Start asking yourself the question, what they gonna do next? We ain't got much further to go. We're kind of already doing too much. Are you hearing what I'm saying? But, so you don't end up in a situation where you're wasting the time. Verse 17 says, Therefore, because of the time being evil, or the days being evil, because you see these things happening, don't be foolish. Verse 17 says, but understand what the will of the Lord is. William McDonald says this, and I love this, so I had to just quote it. Don't act faultlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. So we should not be as unwise, but as wise people who understand what the will of the Lord is. It is crucial because of the abounding evil and the shortness of the time that we might be tempted to spend our days in a frantic and feverish way of using our time and activity of our own choosing. But this would amount to nothing but wasted energy. He says, the important thing is to find out God's will for us each and every day. What a concept. That's interesting. I don't know about you, but I think I'm going to just jump to it. Verse 10 in the very same chapter, verse five says, try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Get an idea of His will, try to discern, put some effort behind discerning what His will is. And McDonald was saying, what you need to do is you need to do this every day. So my question is, do we get up every morning and ask God what his agenda is for us today? Is that what we do? Do we get out of bed and go, you know, I know I got to go to work, Lord, but what do you want from me today? I mean, after all, you're the one that gave me this job. And since you gave me this job, it can't be that this job is my God. So my job doesn't dictate to me what I'm supposed to do with my life. I don't want to waste my time. I don't want to waste your time. So Lord, what is your will for me today? Do we even ask? Or do we just get up and do our routine? You know, what's my routine? Get up, kids, get up. Everybody get up. Get up, get up, get up, get up. Everybody get up. Downstairs, oatmeal, everybody, let's go. Get in the car, get in the car. Who has their backpacks? Grace, where's your shoes? You can't go to school without shoes. You've been rushing to there, rushing to here, rushing to there. And now we got to go to tutoring. I'm just telling you my life. Stop, Jamie. Lord, by the way, what is your will for my day today? What do you want me to do with my life today? Did we even ask? Or is Bank of America and Charles Schwab and the Teachers Union and, you know, wherever else you're working at, is that, are they the people that are telling you what to do? Try to discern the will of God for your life. Amen? Then he says, do not get drunk with wine. I've preached this before, but I want to teach it in context here, verse 15. For that is debauchery, that will ruin your life. Amen? But be filled with the Spirit. Here's the thing, don't focus so much on the wine argument and whether or not you should drink wine because the people get caught up in that. I am dealing with that today. I'm dealing with you and God. If God tells you to go and have a drink, that's doing you. I don't drink. That's the one, you know, hey, I'm not better than you, but that's not the focus today. Okay? Here's the focus. It's a statement of comparing and contrast. He's saying, basically, are you going to be under the influence of something that controls you, like wine? Are you going to be under the influence of the Holy Spirit, who should control you, because he's God? That's the point. So you got, be wise, walk intentionally. Amen? Ask God, what is his plan for me today, and what do you want me to do? What is your will? Because it's crazy out there. I can see that things are starting to get a little tight and time is winding up because it's getting evil out here. I understand all those things, so I want to know what your will is. And then I don't want to actually be under the influence of something that's going to knock me off course when I need to be following the will of the Holy Spirit and let Him influence all of my decisions. Are you hearing what I'm saying? Amen. Hebrews 3 and 12, do I wanna go here? Yes. Just wanna use this real quick. Hebrews 3 and 12. Be careful then, there it is again. Be intentional then, amen? Dear brothers and sisters, make sure that your own heart is not evil and unbelieving, turned away from the living God. You must warn each other every day while it is still today. You see that? Did you catch that? That's talking about don't, don't, don't procrastinate on this. Amen? Warn each other today. while it is still today, so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened." Deceived by sin. Okay? Tricked by sin. Wait a minute. That's not all. There's something else. And hardened against God. Sin will trick you, but there's a hardening effect. You see it? For if we're faithful to the end, trusting God, just as firmly as we did when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. Remember what it says. Here it is again. Today, when you hear his voice again, don't harden your hearts. There is an opportune time to respond to God. Okay? There is a temptation of sin, but then there's an opportune time to start responding to God. God, and that time is right now. Don't procrastinate. Don't think, oh, I'll do that next year. I'll live holy next year. I'll do what you say next year. You don't have that much time. He's trying to tell you there's a way that you harden yourself when you don't respond to the truth of the word. Are you hearing me? Amen. And verse 16. And who was it who rebelled against God? Even though they heard his voice, wasn't it the people that Moses led out of Egypt? Verse 17, and who made God angry for 40 years? Wasn't it the people who sinned, whose corpses lay in the wilderness? There is sin, people, and there is being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, okay? Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, just as the people did in the rebellion. What hardens heart is not just rebellion. What hardens hearts, people, is not responding to God over time. Did you catch that? It's one thing to sin. It's another thing to just stay in rebellion for years and procrastinate your disobedience to where you become harder and harder and harder. Pharaoh, I will harden his heart. Yes, he did. But how did Pharaoh participate in his hardening of his heart? He just kept telling God, no, let my people go. Nope. Let my people go. Nope. Let my people go. Nope. God knew he was going to be hard. God did harden his heart, but Pharaoh participated in his hardness by not responding. He procrastinated. Are you seeing what I'm saying? Amen? Amen. Have you ever had a piece of toast? Put butter on it. Oh, people don't eat toast here? Was that too simple for you? Maybe I should add a few Greek words to that. Have you ever had some toast with some butter? OK, I was just wondering if we were on another planet here, because that was weird. Everybody's like, wait for it. It's a trick. All right. You know how butter kind of softens up the toast? You know, it kind of comes out kind of crunchy, and then you put a little, come on, Rod, you put a little butter on it, and it kind of softens up the toast a little bit. OK. Have you ever eaten day-old toast? Somebody has. Your teeth are still here? Tell me. So you've had day old toast, where you just had the toast just left out all day long, and it just had 24 hours to just sit there and be a piece of toast. What are you doing, toast? Do your toast. Okay? You notice how hard it is? Huh? If you're not careful, Some of us will take that piece of toast and bite into it. You might hurt your teeth depending on how long you've had them. We only get two pair. You get two sets, right? If that toast gets too hard, depending on how long it's been sitting out, it'll hurt you. It's hard. It's hard to digest. Not very pleasant. If that will happen to a piece of toast in one day, can you imagine what happens to a rebellious heart for years? hard is your heart. After telling God no in a certain area for years, baby, there's no butter on the planet that can soften that. Are you hearing what I'm saying to you? If toast that's left out for just 24 hours will have that effect on the bread, what will happen if you tell God no for years and procrastinate the obedience? See, here's the thing that I learned. There are some right-now blessings that God has for us, and he wants us to say yes to them right now, that we end up getting the benefit of a fresh blessing. There are some times when we decided, no, Lord, we're going to do that a little bit later. I'm not going to obey you right now. What I'm going to do is I'm going to walk away from this situation and walk away from that situation. I'm going to do what you tell me years later. It's good that you actually did it. But now what you got is not the same fresh blessing that you had the opportunity of getting before. What you got now is you got the crumbs and the leftovers, because you took too long to tell God, yes. And the kairos moment that God had offered you and gave you an opportunity with immediate obedience, now it's changed. You hear what I'm saying? Here's the point. So I'm in the gym, you know, six days a week. I'm doing the very best I can to lift all these weights by that guy. OK? And he's in there telling me, come on, Jamie. You can do it. Come on, Jamie. You can do it. You can do it. But while I'm in there pressing up the weight, I'm looking at all these 25-year-olds walking around. And they're just... trying to get these 50-year-old muscles to respond. Eduardo's doing the very best he can. He's encouraging me, but the thought keeps coming to my mind, I probably should have did this when I was in my 20s. I put it off, and now I'm trying to do it later, and I'm in there working out and trying to get repairs at the same time. Can you put some oil on that? Meanwhile, the young people are just skipping through the gym. What happened? I procrastinated. I took too long. Now, it doesn't mean I'm not going to get the effect eventually. But what I am saying to you is that there is an opportune time. Don't waste the time. OK? Don't waste the time. Last part, then I'm done. I'm just gonna read this. Matthew 25, verses one through 12. Let's give a slightly easier translation. Yeah, that's good. Jesus says this. He said, the kingdom of heaven will be like 10 bridesmaids who took their lamp and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish. and five were wise. The five who were foolish didn't take enough oil for their lamps, but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil. When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. Didn't show up when They thought he was going to show up. He thought he was going to show up. And so they kind of said, oh, well, we'll just take our time and just relax a little bit. At midnight, they were roused by the shout. Look, the bridegroom is coming. Come out to meet him. All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. Then the five foolish ones asked the others, please give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out. We're not ready. But the others replied, we don't have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves. But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. And then those who were ready, who were ready, who were ready, who were prepared, who did not procrastinate, who took it seriously, Huh? Went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. This is Jesus talking. Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, after they had gotten their oil, later on, didn't have it with them, but went to the market and got it later on, when they returned, they stood outside calling, Lord, Lord, open the door for us. But he called back, believe me, I don't know you. Wow. They weren't living like the king was coming. They weren't preparing like the king was coming. They didn't live intentionally. They didn't intentionally place their feet on steps to make sure that when the king returned, they would be ready. They wasted time because they said, you know, he's not showing up when I thought he would. So I guess I'll just hang out, have a little fun, enjoy the ride. And when Jesus came back, they weren't ready. They thought they could get ready at the last minute. Come to find out, procrastination had said in, it took too long to take him seriously. And the Kairos moment showed up. Ooh, Holy Spirit, you're preaching. There was an opportune time to accomplish. There was an opportune time to make an impact. There was an opportune time to do His will. Huh? There was an opportune time to disciple. There was an opportune time to give the gospel. There was an opportune time to live holy. There was an opportune time to say no to sin, to respond rightly by living a life of holiness, to do His will. There was an opportune time to place your feet carefully, intentionally. We didn't take it. And he says, I didn't know you, I don't know you. Why? Because you didn't live like you knew me. Oh, that just hit me. Obviously, you didn't expect in me. Is that how we want to be, saints? That's the warning of procrastination. Doesn't have to be that way. We can pray and ask the Lord. I'm weak, but you are strong. I believe, but help my unbelief. I don't always do what I need to do, but I need to get better. There's an opportunity while I'm still alive. I have spent decades with wrong folks and wrong people and buying wrong things. Loads and loads of time thinking about somebody who wasn't even thinking about me. Loving on somebody who didn't love me back. Giving my all to a job who don't care nothing about me. Just kick me to the curb as soon as I bend over and fall over and die. Be like, next! We give all that time, all that time to everybody but Jesus. And Jesus is sitting back saying, you know what, I'm kind of jealous of that. I'm going to be totally honest with you, you know, died on the cross for your sins and, you know, living a holy life that you couldn't live and giving you my record and all that stuff, and then this is what you're going to do with the time? Help us, God. It doesn't have to be that way. So we ask God, Lord, I'm talking to you, I'm talking to me. Lord, help me to redeem the time to make the best of the time. Why? Because if I just open my eyes and turn on CNN for two seconds, I see the time is winding up and it's getting evil out here. What am I thinking? But even with that, I still struggle. And I say, God, there's a lean that I have towards this nonsense. If you don't help me, I'm going to do it again. That's being real. That's being transparent. That's being honest. I'm talking to me and I'm talking to you. We don't want to waste your time, let alone his. Amen? Come on, stand with me. I don't know if this message is for anybody. If this message is for you, come meet me down here. If this message is for you, come meet me down here. Come on. It may be hard to turn away, to walk away. Yeah, I know it's hard. I know it's hard. It's hard for me, too. But we are not without resources. We are not without the power of God. Come on. Come with me. Come down here. Come close. Come close. Remember a couple of Sundays ago, I said we're just sheep. Huh? We need a shepherd. We will feed on the wrong stuff all day long and expect to have strength if Jesus doesn't help us. So what we need What we need is power. Amen? Power in, once again, here we go, in our inner man. Huh? To see things the way he sees it, to do things the way he does it, to walk away, and to have a different focus. Huh? Come on Rick, come on now. Redeeming the time. Making the best of the time. Stepping away from distractions. Because the days are evil. Josh. Okay. I don't know where you are. Thank you, Josh. Amen. Let's pray for everybody. Come on, everybody, everybody. Because I know we're struggling. If we're totally honest, we're struggling. Lord, we come before you humbly before the throne room of grace. You said come boldly before the throne room of grace that we may obtain mercy, find grace to help in the time of need. Lord, we just stand here in humility, Lord God. Hallelujah. Asking. You said to everyone asketh, receiveth, to everyone seeketh, findeth, to everyone knocks, the door shall be opened, Lord God. And we come, Lord God, because we know, even as you prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. So, Lord God, and we ask in prayer, Lord God, if it be your will, Lord God, there's something, Lord, we know what your will is as we study your word. But Lord God, we ask, Lord God, that your kingdom come and your will be done in us. your word tells us you work in us to will and to do after your own good pleasure lord god so we're just asking lord god lord god hallelujah hallelujah to by your spirit lord quicken in us lord god hallelujah give us wisdom and insight you said if anyone lack wisdom let him ask of the father who gives to every man liberally and a bit uh uh a braideth not you don't hold back so lord god even as we hear from the we we glean from the wisdom of your word by your holy spirit let us not lean to our understanding lord god but let us be as pastor jamie mentioned careful and intentional let us wake up in the morning lord god knowing that this is the day that you made Lord God, hallelujah. And Lord God, even as your word says, give us this day our daily bread. Lord God, in thy kingdom come and thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Let that be our daily prayer. Let that be the daily unction of our heart, Lord God. Let us not get distracted. If you gave us the breath of life in this day, then let us look for you in this day for your will to be accomplished in this day. We thank you for your indwelling Holy Spirit, Lord. You said things that your will is not accomplished by our power or our might, but by your spirit. So let us enjoy the communion of the Holy Spirit. Let us cling to the vine because you said apart from you, you can do nothing. We can do nothing. So let us cling in desperation, praying, feeding on your word, meditating on your word. As Pastor Jamie said, watching who our association is. Hallelujah. And Lord God, in yoking up with like-minded people who would provoke us to good works, Lord God. But Lord God, prick in our hearts, Lord God, because you know we are sheep. wayward, but you're the good shepherd. So awaken us, awaken in your people, quicken in us, Lord. Hallelujah. And we'll be quick to give your name the glory, honor, and praise. Lord, we know this time is waxing worse. We know, as you said, that the time where signs would show up. So like we're seeing the travail in the earth, showing that you're coming. So Lord God in the meantime and in between time we want to be faithful and we want to be found faithful when you come. So Lord God we ask these things in the name of Jesus and we trust you that the good work you've begun in us you will perform. So our confidence is not even in ourselves it's in you who've begun the good work and are able to perform it. We thank you for these things in Jesus name. Amen. Bless the Lord. Amen. Listen, we have some visitors. Please, if you recognize some new people, go and say hello to them. Amen. Some people have been here before, but if you recognize them, come and say hello. Amen. Bless you. You are dismissed. Wait, wait, wait. There's something else? Huh? All right, I preached myself right out of communion. All right, this ends our service online. Amen. Let's have communion. Thank you. That's what happens. If I don't put a note there, I'll forget. All right, gentlemen, I need my help.