THE WORLD IS NOT MY HOME....2023_01_01_09_45_55

The speaker discusses various announcements and events at Cowboy Church. They mention a dinner and dance, the arrival of some guests, and plans for a Bible school. They also talk about membership classes, baptism, and the importance of tithing. The speaker mentions the use of birdhouses for collecting offerings and reminds attendees to silence their cell phones. They also mention the presence of a replica White House and upcoming activities such as Pastor's Round Pen Bible study. The speaker concludes with a prayer and some songs. All right, time to go to work. Work some more. Happy New Year, everybody. Are you sure? Happy New Year! Yeah! Well, we had a dinner and a dance Friday night. It was good. We got invaded by some harkies. We had three couples that were on maneuvers down here. They're going to be coming back June. And they're going to put on a Bible school for us here. June 12th. Starting June 12th. So we'll have Bible school here with the harkies. And the other three, four, five times they've done it for us, we've always had good Bible school. So you can start putting bugs in youngins' ears and drag them up here. And oldins' too. White house. Well, cue cards. We got announcements this morning. Some of them are really important. And so read them. They're in the bulletin. And the third Sunday, it's not in the bulletin, but the third Sunday we'll have membership class right after our dinner on the ground. Folks that want to come to the membership class, We had a little bit of precipitation, so we had Walmart boots this morning so we could get out of the house because we had horsemen there about two feet in our driveway this morning. Now that's definitely in the markets already. We had a pair of them this morning too. I had a bag over my head trying to get it over. It was precipitation up in the hills. Announcements. The membership class. And anybody wanting to be baptized, we'll baptize the fourth Sunday of January. We'll break the ice on the tub and we'll get her done over there. Announcements. Read the bulletin. Okay, another one. Give me another cue card here. What's this? We don't pass a hat at Cowboy Church. I'm getting really dependent on them now. It happens with old age. We don't pass a hat at Cowboy Church. We've got a couple birdhouses right back there underneath that heater so you can be warm while you're putting your tithes and offerings in the birdhouse. And the best way to do that is just say, God, what do you want me to put in there? And do it. It works real good that way. I did hear a Catholic priest one time talking about tithing. And he was talking to one of his boys and he says, what do you think about tithing? He said, well, I do way more than tithing. And the priest said, well, that's good. What do you do? He said, well, I just take home my money and I throw it up in the air and I say, God, you keep what you want and the rest is mine. We don't do that at Cowboy Church. We've got birdhouses. We do have cell phones. Anybody got a cell phone here today? Have you got your cell phones? Put that sucker on mute or airplane or something so you don't make Steve down here mad. Look how big he is. So you don't want that thing going off during journey. I will embarrass you. See? I'm warning you. Okay. That's a cell phone. Well, you're slacking. Okay. Well, for our visitors and guests, we do have a White House here. We have a White House and it's our version of the, it's a replica of the one in Washington, D.C. It's the two-holder right outside here is our White House. And it's much better than the one in Washington, D.C. because ours actually flushes. You still need your boots on either way. Either way. Washington or here. Out there? Yeah. Oh, yeah, Washington. What about Tuesday? Tuesday, we will be working Tuesday. We're going to start back up again so hopefully get a bunch of people to come in and help. We will start Pastor's Round Pen the third Wednesday of this year. We'll start having Pastor's Round Pen Bible study. 530 to 6 we'll eat over in the trailer over there. And 6 to 7 we'll have Bible study and go home. What else? Prayer. That's great. Dear Heavenly Father, we just thank You, Lord, for the blessings this day and each one's here, Father. We ask You to bless Your Word, Father. Bless music, worship, and praise, Father. Bless the offering, Father. And just help us to be a witness to the community around us so others might come to find Jesus, their Savior, Father, and help us learn to accept Christ as our Lord, Father, and follow Him each day. We ask it in Jesus' name. Church says amen. Amen. How about there, Sid? Yeehaw! And do-lorders. Man, there ought to be a hundred do-lorders. Where's our do-lorders this morning? Well, they're all old. They're up here. Do-lord, oh do-lord, do remember me. Way beyond the blue. I've got a home in glory land that outshines the sun. I've got a home in glory land that outshines the sun. I've got a home in glory land that outshines the sun. Way beyond the blue. Do-lord, oh do-lord, do remember me. Way beyond the blue. I took Jesus as my Savior. You take Him too. I took Jesus as my Savior. You take Him too. I took Jesus as my Savior. You take Him too. Way beyond the blue. Do-lord, oh do-lord, do remember me. Way beyond the blue. If you can't bear the cross, you can't bear the crown. Way beyond the blue. Do-lord, oh do-lord, do remember me. Way beyond the blue. If you can't bear the cross, you can't bear the crown. Way beyond the blue. Do-lord, oh do-lord, do remember me. Way beyond the blue. Let's hear it for our do-lord. Lord, I hope you see it's good. I say you didn't give me a kiss so too soon. I should be thankful, Lord, I know I should. But Lord, I hope you see it's good. Lord, have you forgotten me? I've been praying, do you see me? I'm not saying I'm a righteous man. But Lord, I hope you understand. I don't need forgiveness, I don't need pain. Send down the thunder, Lord, send down the rain. But Lord, if I didn't know just how it should be, Just where it should be for me. Lord, I hope you see it's good. I say you didn't give me a kiss so too soon. I should be thankful, Lord, I know I should. But Lord, I hope you see it's good. Even if it's the dawn of time, While I'm at it in the middle of time, It might be hard for the devil to choose, But he's waiting for you. Lord, I hope you see it's good. I say you didn't give me a kiss so too soon. I should be thankful, Lord, I know I should. But Lord, I hope you see it's good. Yes, Lord, I hope you see it's good. I'm a believer, I'm just a man. Tell me the least, and all that I can be, And all that I am to you. Show me the stairway, and I'll have to climb. Lord, for my sake, teach me to stay one day at a time. One day at a time, sweet Jesus, That's all I'm asking of you. Give me the strength to do every day what I have to do. Yesterday's gone, sweet Jesus, And tomorrow may never be mine. So for my sake, teach me to stay one day at a time. Do you remember when you walked among them? Well, Jesus, you know, if you're looking below, First down and then up. Pushing and shoving, crowding my mind. So for my sake, teach me to stay one day at a time. One day at a time, sweet Jesus, That's all I'm asking of you. Give me the strength to do every day what I have to do. Yesterday's gone, sweet Jesus, And tomorrow may never be mine. So for my sake, teach me to stay one day at a time. Yes, so for my sake, teach me to stay one day at a time. All right. Everybody get what they wanted for Christmas? You think you didn't get what you really wanted? Not on Christmas? Well, it was late. Blame the postal service. Or Amazon. Blame it on climate change. Of course. Of course, if you didn't get what you wanted, you know, there's always the name it and claim it thing, you know? Just ask the Lord what you want and He'll just give it to you, right? So, yeah, yeah. Well, he got what he wanted. He got his Mercedes. So, we're going to sing about his Mercedes. Oh, Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes-Benz? My girlfriend rides horses, my husband plays the piano. A tiny black Minister with a gold leather crown. Oh, Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes-Benz? Oh, Lord, won't you buy me a television? The biggest, the tip-straightest you've ever seen. I'll watch all the rodeos and the movies for days. Oh, Lord, won't you buy me a television? Oh, Lord, there'll be no more nothing to do with me. No more pictures, no shoes on my feet. No, they ain't got no family, no law, no history. No job, no money, no nothing to do with me. I've got an old mirror that I call my own. My phone is so full and I close it long. My kids, they're all healthy, happy and clean. They're the prettiest thing that you've ever seen. I've got a good job, I work hard all day. And I've got a couple of church where I worship and pray. Oh, you bless me so much more than I have to say. Oh, thank you, dear Jesus, for showing me the way. Oh, Lord, bless me about that place that you've built. I count all my blessings, I'm mostly filled. My health, my family and all of my friends. Oh, Lord, bless me about that place that you've built. Oh, Lord, bless me about that place that you've built. Oh, Lord, bless me about that place that you've built. Oh, Lord, bless me about that place that you've built. Oh, Lord, bless me about that place that you've built. Thank you. If it's your down here, I want it to be a backhoe. Well, we have a lot of candidates down here. Green light. All right. I've been good. Treating it off, would you? Yeah. Keep it warm, the whole thing. Yeah, right, right. My back hasn't hurt in the last two or three days, but it hurts today. One thing about it, I didn't get up before sunrise today because I don't think I'd ever come up. Was there sunrise today? Did anybody see it? No, there's no sunrise today. It doesn't happen. Picking on my Mercedes. What, Gordon? I've got six of them. Well, they might. It's inventory for emergencies. I can run them on used cooking oil, and I've got about 1,000 gallons of used cooking oil stored up. So when everybody else is walking, I run my old Mercedes. I used to drive it back and forth to Texas where I got my wife moved out here. I was commuting. And I put a 55-gallon barrel in the back seat of that Mercedes and head out. And when they first started restricting the dam down there, they thought I was a terrorist or something with an old Mercedes and a barrel in the back seat. Made me go through searchlights the first time. But I figured out a way around it. I hooked it into my fuel system, so it was a fuel tank instead of just a container. And they said, well, I guess that meets the requirements. But I get all the way home with a barrel of diesel most of the way back. That wasn't this year. That was a long time ago, wasn't it? Like your boots. Yeah, Mercedes. Is there anybody besides me that's glad 22's gone? Are you glad? Amen. I got up this morning, and I don't know, dog was restless about the 4-4. And I just gave up and got up. And everything, you know, okay, Lord, I'm waiting. Well, usually I start about 5, but 4, I started, okay, Lord. Okay, Lord, what are we going to talk about today? This is a whole new year. What are we going to talk about? And along about quarter to 7, God said, this world is not your home. I said, what? Well, that's right, because I was trying to think of something fancy, you know, for a first Sunday of the year, and we could do something fancy. And God said, just listen to me. I'll take care of it. So this world is not my home. You've heard me talk about being world-weary. Y'all got a grip on what world-weary is? When you look around and you see what the devil is doing to mankind, you see the life being destroyed, you see the earth being destroyed. You know, Greta really gets upset with some of the stuff going on. Y'all know who Greta is, don't you? She's the one that runs the news. This world's not my home. I'm world-weary. And the Bible says, the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not. It just amazes me how some people believe and some people don't. I don't understand it. Never in my whole life was there ever a time when I didn't believe, but I had a drug problem a little early in life. My aunt and uncle drugged me to church every time the doors were open. And I just can't ever remember not believing and trusting God. And I knew real young that I was really a sinner. And so I was praying for God to go forgive me my sins when I was a little bitty kid. And I hadn't stopped yet. Because they're still there. They changed color, but they're still there. And so what is the problem with this world? Well, the problem with this world is that the devil is in charge of it. Did you know that? The devil's in charge of it. He tried to sell it to Jesus. Did you remember that? He's tempting Jesus out in the wilderness. Jesus didn't argue with him about whether the devil had the authority to give him all the kingdoms of this world. Because Jesus knew that all the kingdoms of this world are ruled by Satan. Now, in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 12, it says, We wrestle not against flesh and blood. He's talking about we. We, the ones who believe. And when we believe, God puts his Holy Spirit in us. And when he puts his Holy Spirit in us, we're his children. And heaven is our home. And we're aliens in this world here of the devil. Now, the devil is way more persistent than our government about aliens. Illegal aliens. And the devil wants to kill us. Every one of us. He doesn't want anybody on this earth that's a believer in Christ. Because he really doesn't have any authority over them unless they say so. And when Jesus refused to say so, I'm sure the devil said, Oh boy, this is going to be a long haul. Well, here we are. 2023. Man, I was talking on the way in today. In prophecy in the Bible where it talks about one of the signs that we're in the last day is when Israel became a nation. It talked about prophecy. It said, Will a nation be born in a day? And in a day, May 14, 1948, Israel became a nation in one day. Boy, it was a nation. And from that day on, I was counting the days. And in May 14, 1988, 40 years later, a generation. Because Jesus said, This generation is going to pass until all these signs come. And I was pretty sure a generation was 40 years. I didn't see it that way. But every day since 1988, looking up, every day. I told a preacher one time, I said, It's my fault that Jesus hasn't come back yet. And he said, What do you mean, it's your fault? And I said, Because the Bible says that he'll come in a day at a time when you think not. And since 1948, there ain't been a day I think not. He's coming today. And before we get to that, it must be my fault. Ephesians 6, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Does that describe our government, I wonder? Wickedness in high places? 2 Corinthians 5.20, Paul was writing to the church according to his writing to believers. He was writing to those that were the sons of God. Those that had received salvation and the Spirit of God and became citizens of heaven at that time. But we're still here. And it says in Corinthians 5.20, Now then we are ambassadors for Christ. Now somebody told me the other day that Nancy Pelosi wants to quit her job and be an ambassador to Italy. I'll quit eating spaghetti. I'll show them. A song we used to sing back home, the first church I started. It says, This world is not my home, I'm just passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from heaven's open door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore. That's the way it is when you're a Christian and you're walking in the fire of the Spirit of God. You're an ambassador from a nation that this world order hates. Oh Lord, you know I have no friend like you. If heaven's not my home, then Lord, what would I do? The angels beckon me from heaven's open door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore. You feel like that? I ain't at home here. I'm an alien. The devil hates me. He pokes me in the back. Sometimes I wonder if he gets people to sing songs about me. But in spite of all that, they're expecting me, and that's one thing I know. My Savior pardoned me, and now I onward go. I know he'll take me through, though I am weak and poor. And I can't feel at home in this world anymore. Just over in glory land, we'll live eternally. The saints on every hand are shouting victory. Their songs of sweetest praise drift back from the heaven's shore. And I can't feel at home in this world anymore. There's a danger of feeling at home in this world. And I was really surprised almost 50 years ago. I'd go to a preacher's meeting back home, and we'd talk about it. And I'd just be excited about heaven and being away from sin and destruction and corruption and death and pain and sickness, which is what you get away from when we go home. And I said, man, if it was just right now, are you ready? And I had preachers say, no, I don't want to, not yet. I don't want to go yet. I don't want to go yet. I've got things I want to do. Man, what on this world could you want to do more than go to heaven and be away from all the corruption? I heard a Sunday school teacher was teaching a young primary boys class, and he's asking, he says, who wants to go to heaven? And everybody raised their hand but this one boy. And he talked a little bit more about heaven and stuff. And he said, who wants to go to heaven? And they all raised their hands but one little boy. And after class was over, he asked the little boy, he said, son, he said, don't you want to go to heaven? And he says, yeah. He says, but I thought you was getting a load up for today. Today suits me, you know. Today suits me. I'm going to have to put my boots back on to get in the house, my Walmart boots. Just over in glory land, we'll live eternally. The saints on every hand are shouting victory. Man, that's the way it's going to be, a victory, when we get out of here and get there. I won't have to pay too much attention to what I say over there because my mouth will be clean. That's one of the questions I had when the Lord cornered me about preaching. I said, God, you know I've got a mouth like a sailor. He said, you've got to fix me before I can't. And I do pretty good. Unless mule steps on my foot or hit my thumb with a nail or something, the flesh just oozes out. Doesn't it? I mean, doesn't it? Are you honest? It does, doesn't it? So what do you do then? Pass up. Lord, I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry. Would you, you know, take every thought captive, the Bible says. And when I see something like that and my mind wants to run down the ditch, Lord, take every thought captive. Control my mind. Get my thoughts straight, God. Paul said, pray without ceasing. That used to drive me crazy until I said, God, why does this, pray without ceasing. I crawl around on my hands and knees praying all the time. God says, son, you sin without ceasing. You need to be fast enough. And that's the way we live in this world. The temptations of the flesh, they ever turn. I don't care where you're at, what you're doing, thoughts come through your mind, don't they? The Bible says take every thought captive. Sometimes it's about somebody else. Sometimes it's with somebody else. Or sometimes it's to somebody else. Them thoughts come, don't they? And we've got to be protecting our minds, walking in the power of the Spirit of God. Oh, Lord, you know I have no friend like you. If heaven's not my home, then Lord, what would I do? I've got that hope, that blessed hope. It ain't always going to be like this. Some of 2023 is going to be like that because it's already started. Need more sleep. Were you out all night, Sam? You was at the Moose Club, wasn't you? I've closed down a couple of those before. The band played there. Right after, we had a wonderful band night here, Friday night. And if you all didn't come, you missed it. We've contracted with them for 5th Friday plans all this year. So, you all going to have to polish up your boots and come to the barn on the 5th Friday. Every month it's got 5 Fridays. There's only 4 this next year. The angel's backing me from heaven's open door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore. In Romans 12 too, it says, be not conformed to this world. Boy, it's easy to do that, isn't it? If you don't think so, look around at all these perfectly good jeans you've got ripped up. If that ain't being conformed to this world, I don't know what is. Oh, no, they don't talk about my fashion, right? You want to look like everybody else. Yeah, I used to look like everybody else. I just hope nobody stepped on my fingers when I was going home. You got to let that soak in, don't you? Be not conformed to this world. Boy, that's complicated, isn't it? It's hard to understand that one, isn't it? Be not conformed to this world. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Oh, God, take control of my mind. God, help me think straight. Help me talk straight. Help me walk straight. God, I want to be pleasing to you. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. There's a song that the Mormons used to sing a lot. One of the songs that I really like is just, I'll go where he wants me to go. I'll be what he wants me to be, you know? Acceptable and perfect will of God. Another song I really loved is, and I still do, is, I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold. I'd rather be his than have riches untold. That's pretty much what Gordon was singing about. I'd rather have Jesus than houses or land. I'd rather be led by his nail-piercing hand. Than to be the king of a vast domain or be held in sin's dread sway. I'd rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today. I'd rather have Jesus than men's applause. I'd rather be faithful to his dear cause. I'd rather have Jesus than worldwide fame. I'd rather be true to his holy name. He's fairer than lilies of rarest bloom. He's sweeter than honey from out of the cone. He's all that my hunger and spirit needs. I'd rather have Jesus than let him lead. I knew early in my life that I wasn't getting along with God. All the guilt and shame that I carried because I was raised in the house. And I wanted to get along with God. There wasn't any church that was teaching how to get along with God. Give you a lot of theory. Give you a lot of Greek and Hebrew. And tell you the stories that Jesus told, the parables. Give you history and give you prophecy. You didn't hear a whole lot about getting along with God. Because there was that word, repent, that nobody likes to hear. I mean, it's been really rubbed raw, that word has. But that's what it means to get along with God. It means owning up to the fact that God, I don't measure up. And I'm sorry, God. And I'm trusting you. And I want to do what you want me to do. Get along with God. Be prayed up, fessed up, and well fed. 2 Corinthians says, be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. We get hooked up in this world and a lot of stuff we're doing. And we get hooked up with unbelievers a lot of times, don't we? I mean, you can't always tell. I mean, they don't all have Cowboy Church stickers in their back window, right? Some of them we might need to peel off, I don't know. Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what agreement hath Christ with the devil? What part hath he that believeth with an infant death? We don't have anything in common, Saint Joseph. We don't. Because we're aliens in this world. We're aliens in the devil's world. We're ambassadors for our Lord, our Savior. The King that is soon coming to set up his kingdom here on this earth. Soon. A little over seven years. A little over seven years. What agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God. God hath said, I'll dwell in them. You know that? The Holy Spirit of God dwells in us. You know, the Old Testament saints, the Holy Spirit just came upon them. To guide them and direct them and give them direction and stuff like that. But when we become the children of God, he puts his spiritual DNA in us. And just like you can't undo your biological DNA and get rid of your daddy, you can't be so honored as a son of God that he takes his DNA away from you. You might not have the power to use it if you disobey. But blessings and power to live a Christian life comes from walking in the power of his spirit. Walking prayed up, fest up, well fed. You're the temple of the living God. As God hath said, I'll dwell in them and walk in them. And I'll be their God. And they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord. Touch not the unclean things. And I will receive you and will be a father unto you. And ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. In John chapter 12, Jesus said, He that loveth his life shall lose it. He that loveth his life in this world will lose it. And he that hateth his life in this world, life of sin, temptation, sickness, death. He that hateth his life in this world shall keep it until life eternal. Be world weary. It's a normal consequence of being a Christian. If any man serve me, let him follow me. And where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my father honor. How's he honor? When we're in fellowship with him, the son says, ask anything of my father according to his will. He'll provide it for you. If you ask for a dog's diesel and he's got a Ford diesel for you, that's good enough. I know. 2 Corinthians. Chapter 4, 2 Corinthians. Therefore saying, we have this ministry as we have received mercy, that we faint not. But we renounce the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully. But by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. Be a walking, talking witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. In your actions, the way you live, the way you serve God with other people. But if our gospel be hidden, it's hid to them that are lost. In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not. Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God who commanded the light to shine out of the darkness has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure, this treasure of God's grace and mercy, salvation that he has given us, eternal life that he has given us. We have it in these earthen vessels, this human flesh made from dirt. That the excellency of the power may be of God, not of us. We're troubled on every side, yet not distressed. We're perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. We get cast down, but we're not destroyed. This world is not my home. In 2 Chronicles 7, verse 14 says, If my people, who? God's people. People that Christ dwell in. His people. If my people, those that have trusted Jesus Christ. If my people, which are called by my name, Christians. You know, when people ask me, they say, Well, what kind of Christian are you? Are you a Pentecostal? Are you a Catholic? Are you whatever all them others are? I tell them I'm an Antioch Christian. They say, well, I never heard of an Antioch Christian. I said, well, the Bible says that Christians were first called Christians as Antioch. And I'm one of them, like the first church that was in Jerusalem. They walked in fellowship with God. And you know what happened in that church? One day 5,000 was saved. Another day 3,000 got saved to come to believe in Jesus Christ. Because they were in one place, in one accord. They were in fellowship. They were prayed up, fessed up, well fed. That's how it works. That's how it works. And I've got a feeling that a bunch of y'all out there are too. Because of the love that's in this house. The love that's in this body. I believe you've been listening. And today, when you read your one-year Bible, It says, in the beginning. And it ain't talking about baseball. If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, and I'll hear from heaven, I'll forgive their sins, and I'll heal their land. Jesus is coming to heal this land. When he comes back, and when he rules this kingdom in eternity, there'll be no more death. No more dying. No more pain. No more sickness. No more stealing. No more cheating. No more lying. No more dope addicts dying. No more drunks. Maybe no more politicians. That's all of the above, right? Psalms 34. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth in him. Can you testify to that? I'm blessed. Because I trust God. I'm blessed. I'm blessed. 22, 17. Revelation. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. The Holy Spirit says, Come. I'll bless you. I'll save you. Come. Trust me. Start this year off right. Genesis 1.1. In the beginning. It starts today. Not one year by one. Let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst, Come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely. I love this Romans 8 chapter 8 verse 1. It's written for me. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. My 60th year of class reunions this year. We've had a bunch of our class die this last year. I hear from a lot of them all the time. They're amazed. They're amazed. They're amazed that God changes people. It's all I can say. And there's now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. In John 8 verse 12 it says, Jesus spoke again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. The old jailer in Philippi. They had some earthquakes over in California, didn't they? In Eden. And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. The jailer's earthquake shook his jail apart. Back then they killed politicians when they didn't do what they were supposed to do. And the sheriff knew that it was his fault that they had the earthquake and all those prisoners got away. Paul and Silas were in there and I can imagine they'd been singing and praising God and having a revival in that jail all night long. And that jailer said, Oh man, you know, my jail's gone. They're going to kill me. I'm a dead man. Paul and Silas said, Don't hurt yourself. We're all still here. The jailer said, What must I do to be saved? If you asked that question, if you got the answer, if you exercised that, if you acted on it, what must I do to be saved? They told him, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Romans 10, 9 says, Thou shalt confess with thine mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved. Ain't complicated, is it? Ain't complicated. And when you do that, you're a brand new baby in your new eternal life. Babies gotta be fed and well fed. Preyed up. Fessed up. Well fed. God's Word is the bread of life. It's what grows you. Strong. Straight. Right. You don't read God's Word, you're missing out. You're missing it. You need to read God's Word. I'll give anybody a one-year Bible. Today I got some. Start off this year. One day at a time. Read God's Word. At the end of this year, you've read the whole Bible. You've took all of God's Word. Well, I don't understand what it says. I don't either. I don't understand all that stuff. I don't intend to. There's something there I ain't figured out. But I believe it. I don't know how he created this earth. I don't know how he took dirt and made bud. I don't know how he did that. But he did. And I believe it. And I believe when it says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll have eternal life. I believe that. Because it's what it says. When we mess up, we've got to fess up. My little children, these things I write unto you that you sin not. Little children, you know like you just got born? Little children, that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father. We've got a lawyer that shows up in court. Because the devil's up there accusing us every day. You know, I've heard people say, oh, the devil's cast down to the earth and he's chained up and everything. And I said, well, if the devil's chained up, he's chained way too long because it reaches me. You know, I keep finding devil dogs on a short cane. He's in heaven in the presence of God accusing the saints. He accuses us of being unworthy, of being sinners. It's like he said about Job. He said, God, give me a shot at Job. See, that shows me God protects us from the devil. The devil said, give me a shot at Job and he'll cut you to your face. And I said, well, I know Job. You can go ahead and do thus and so to him, but you can't kill him. Job will come out the other end of that book. You know that? He did. And he's looking for a savior. He knew he was coming. Look, children, these things I write unto you that you sin not, it's best if you don't sin. And if any man does sin, we've got an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the covering for our sins. And for, not only for our sins, but for the sins of the whole world. He died for everybody. He paid the price. The price has been paid. All you've got to do is pick up your ticket. Believe. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's start the new year off in that book again. Dear Heavenly Father, I just thank you, Lord, for the blessings this day. I thank you for each one that's here. Open our hearts, Father. Give us the hunger for your word. Help us to be a blessing in the community around us, Father, because there's others that are just walking in darkness and in sin and bondage right now. Help us to show them the light. God, I just ask that you heal the sick. Pray for those in bondage, addictions. And Father, just guide us and direct us and bless us, Father. In Jesus' name I pray. Church says, Amen. Cowboy Church says, Yeehaw! And Joe Bob, Bill, Steve says, Sam, Sam. You know, Deb, did I get it done in time so you can go watch my hometown boy play football today? Almost? You know, that Kansas City quarterback, his family's from Truth. His granddaddy used to work for me. Yep.