The Middle Of Your Story Is Not The End

Would you welcome to this Pope and our general overseer Pastor Carter Conlon? Thank you, thank you may be seated first of all I'd like to say that you should be thankful as I am that you have a Shepherd in this church and Pastor Tim Galena and his wife Cindy Most of the people here might not be aware But he comes into this sanctuary every Saturday night Saturday afternoon And he lays hands on every seat in the sanctuary and prays for you whoever's going to be sitting in the seat at both the 10 o'clock and the 1 o'clock service and You don't have to you know, you can figure out how long it would take to do that but he's a shepherd walks the streets of New York City in this area and prays and is given to Following the leading of the Holy Spirit and that has made my heart so glad Presence of the Lord is here I don't know what else to say It's been 37 years and the hallmark of this church is the presence of God I have seen over the years and we continue to see it today people walk in and They just are overwhelmed with the sense of God's presence looking around seeing people from over a hundred nations gathered together in one place and And some of the people that are here your countries are at war but you're not at war with God or with one another and You're able to sit beside a person who might be in a country that you're in conflict with and yet still worship And we thank God for that. What a testimony as the world is falling apart. The church is coming together What an opportunity for a testimony in this generation I've just come back from vacation and I did tell pastor Tim this morning.

I'm gonna say it again that you know with with Anna leaving and You know, you've got four children and and one is going and getting married, but you can set your watch by it They come back with more you can be sure of that and I know that from personal experience that four becomes eight becomes 16 becomes 32 is the number that sticks in my mind for you. I'm not it's just I Have a prophetic edge. I don't know.

It's just it's just there. It's just there You know this this summer we were with the eight of our grandchildren in Eastern Canada and We rented a bouncy castle for them to keep them occupied throughout the day With this with a water slide and they got the brilliant idea all by themselves To take a whole big bottle of perch shampoo and pour it in the bouncy castle You had to see it to believe it. You had to see the bubbles Emanating from this thing.

They would come down the slide so fast that the barrier couldn't stop them. They'd fly up on the lawn and They would only run to the house when their eyes were full of soap suds to get so that we could wipe their eyes and then They would be back in there and at night we just lined the eight of them up and took the garden hose and washed them Off there's there's nothing else you could do and they say it best vacation ever amazing time But I was the guy left having to clean this bouncy castle before the owners of it came to pick it up Because it looked like a bubble machine when you blew it up in the morning but they had fun and it's it's the reward of Staying married. It's the report of loving God loving your family and serving God.

God is a rewarder He is a rewarder and thank God for that So the the number 32 just sticks in my mind, so I hope I'm here to see the fulfillment of all of it It's coming your way you're gonna need a bigger boat pastor Tim Straight out it's coming your way. It won't be long All summer I've been burdened for you for you for the people that God foreknew we're going to be here and particularly for the young Because a lot of people who are young in the faith You don't yet fully understand what your journey is going to look like and you may have formed an impression in your mind of what? The Christian life is and it it might be good But it might not be complete and it might not be accurate And if you don't have an accurate view of what the pathway ahead of you is going to look like you could end up overwhelmed By your own weaknesses your circumstances your enemies the voices that will come against you the battles you will fight It's it's not You know you you you thought you thought that coming to Christ you would be rid of all your problems Well, that's true your old ones But there's some new ones waiting for you right now some brand new problems that you never faced before I remember when as a police officer when I gave my life to Christ It is strange the guys I worked with didn't have a problem with me when I was a drunk and a liar and Violent and all the rest of it But suddenly when I'm telling the truth and working hard suddenly people had a problem with me And I found I had enemies that I didn't have before That will come your way. That'll be part of the package.

That's ahead of you The message title that I have is the middle of your story is not the end of your story The middle of your story is not the end and some of you are at the beginning But I want to speak particularly to those that are in the middle of their story right now That you're wondering God What is going on in my life? This is not what I thought it was going to be but this is what it has become you know that to be to be forewarned is to be foretold the saying goes and And if you can ingest this if you can embrace this the Christian life Does have difficulties? You will be opposed You might not even be aware. There's a devil until you become a child of God We're living in a society where it's turning quickly to open season on believers in Jesus Christ Where it's almost going to be legal to hate Christians I hate to say that but our society is very very quickly turning against those who are followers of Jesus Christ But the middle of your story no matter what you have to go through is not the end of your story Oh, the end of your story is a glorious. It's a glorious finish.

Thank God After the morning message, I said to somebody I'd like to put that on my tombstone after I'm gone This is not the end of my story, you know, it doesn't finish here That's I'm going off into eternity father. I thank you For the anointing of your Holy Spirit. I thank you for the strength and the power of God Lord God, I pray Lord Jesus Christ That in this church and in my life and in each one of our lives we would never take for granted the anointing of your Holy Spirit Your willingness to walk with us God give us a very very deep and ever deepening appreciation For your presence in each one of our lives Thank you for this church.

Thank you for this godly pastor Thank you for the elders and the leaders that are here the board members and those that have stood strong with this congregation for 37 years God we give you praise and we recognize this none of this would be possible without the presence of your Holy Spirit God, I can't preach without your Holy Spirit. I'd have nothing to say and if I did nobody would listen It's only the anointing that makes the difference. So I pray for the anointing God today Lord have mercy on this poor vessel Put your Holy Spirit upon me give me the ability to speak what you've given me and give all of us in the sanctuary and Online the ability to hear this he who has ears to hear you said let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the church Prepare us for what we're about to face and give us a right perspective From your word God on the end of our story in Jesus name Psalm 23 a psalm of King David the wonderful shepherd Who was anointed to be king? The Lord is my shepherd.

I Shall not want he makes me to lie down in green pastures He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake You know, I walked through the valley of the shadow of death. I will fear no evil For you're with me your rod and your staff.

They comfort me You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies you anoint my head with oil my cup runs over surely Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. I Will dwell in the house of the Lord forever a David had a mental perspective of God And it it came most likely from his own formative years when he was young He was given the care of a portion of his father's sheep the scripture doesn't tell us how many but there were sheep that were under his charge and and He had a such a wholehearted embracing of that calling such a compassion and care for those sheep That were put under his charge that he began to see God this way And it gave him comfort to think the Lord was his shepherd because he had been a good shepherd He said I shall not want and I can just see David looking after his little flock every day and and looking to their needs Looking to their is one of them limping as is there another one that seems to be shoved aside when they come to the feeding trough and not able to eat and he's watching and he's looking and he Recognizes that that God's viewpoint of his own people is exactly the same as his was of these physical sheep God is looking at us. We are we are the we are the the thought in his heart We are the as the scriptures the apple of his eye.

He's watching you today He's he watches you throughout the day caring and concerning and and if we will let God He will give us what we need to make it through the journey so that will not be lacking for strength Will not lack for provision will not lack for a sense of well-being if we will turn and let him become our shepherd He makes me to lie down in green pastures David said and I I thank God when I first got saved I started reading the Word of God And I'm thankful there are 66 books that we're not just stuck on one page like for years and years and years I'm thankful that that every day I can turn and as the scriptures morning by morning I see new mercy. I I see a new thought from God and I I remember the tears I would read God's Word with tears in those early years as a new believer in Jesus Christ And I felt that God's Word was like a water and it was washing away the the years of wrong thinking It was washing away the old voices from without and from within that tried to govern and dominate my life and crushed me and the Failures in my past and I remember the tears as I was reading truth And I knew this was truth and was so wonderful to be in the Word of God David said he leads me beside the still waters. I I remember being brought by the Holy Spirit into a place of peace Oh, thank God as the Apostle Paul said there's a peace that passes understanding in Christ There's a peace that I can't explain a sense of well-being that does Oftentimes nothing to do with my environment or my surroundings.

It's just as the songs it is well with my soul It is well inside that no matter what we're facing. No matter what's in the news. There's a sense of well-being He restores my soul.

Oh, thank God For the restoration of Christ. Thank God. Thank God.

Thank God We make mistakes and there are there are bumps and weaves that get into our character But the mercy of God brings restoration into every area of our he restores our marriages. He restores our relationships He restores our abilities to to love and to reach out and to speak and everything He just restores us and then the last part of verse 3 said he leads me in paths of righteousness For his namesake He actually ties the honor and the reputation of his own name in the keeping of you and I Amazing amazing God says my my honor is at stake here in the keeping of this girl This young person has put their trust in me. I Will lead them I will lead you God says if you will follow me I will lead you in a right path in the way you should go It says in the New Testament don't be as the horse or mule who who must be held with a bit and bridle Don't don't be stubborn.

Let me lead you in that place of wholesomeness. Let me lead you in that place Where I want you to be and it's it's an amazing Thing those early years aren't they when you're just in love with Jesus you come to church And it's just all peaches and cream and worship and and it's just like I remember as a cop I I got saved and I thought finally in a place with honest people Finally in a place with people who don't tell lies You know, I was so disappointed the first time I ran into a crook in the in the in the Church of Jesus Christ Sadly, it wasn't somebody in the pew either And I remember going home one time and I and I laid on my floor in the in the living room And I was so heartbroken Heartbroken God, I expect to find this on the street. That's what I do for a living These are the people I deal with ninety nine point nine percent of my time And I thought that I could come to church and it would be a refuge from this Only to find the same spirit sometimes manages to creep in and sometimes in very public places and prominent places and I laid on the floor and I was so discouraged and Then suddenly I felt the hand of God just wash over me.

I can't explain it I just felt this warmth wash over me and and and he spoke to my heart and he said Carter I'm not a hypocrite and I'm not a crook. I Went all the way for you and and the life you're living You're living for me. So just serve me Get up off your face on the floor and serve me because you only stand before me You don't stand before these people one day you stand before me and I'm the only one that can say well done Good and faithful servant David starts out and it's like that as new believers I'm talking to the new believers now or the young and the Lord you start out and and you start realizing God This is what I've been looking for In all of my endeavors and going to school or not going to school or trying to get it I've been trying to scratch this inner itch that I could never scratch But finally I found a relationship with you and and God you're leading me into that place of abundance You're giving me peace in my mind and in my heart You're leading me on a path, which I know is a good path And that's that's the way David felt and that's the way many new believers feel But you see there's a verse 4 and a verse 5 in Psalm 23 in verse 4 David suddenly finds himself walking through the valley of the shadow of death Walking through a place that without the provision of God.

He's saying in his heart. I'm not gonna make it here he was haunted by a jealous man who was jealous of the anointing on his life and Haunted in the mountains by an insane King called Saul and knew his life was hanging by a thread He didn't know anymore who he could trust there were betrayers around and and Every time somebody came to the cave there had to be something and David said God Can I trust this person? My life is hanging by a thread and if Saul finds out where I am my life is going to be over He was walking through the valley of the shadow of death and there there are seasons There are times that come into every Christian life Where we're going to be out of strength We we don't know how to go forward. I've been there a few times.

I know what this looks like I know what it's all about. I know what it's like to be exhausted I know what it's like to suffer from a breakdown I know what it's like to feel like God himself has not been faithful to his promises to me not wasn't true but that's what I felt like at the time you can your thinking can get jaded when you're starting through this this middle this middle years as of your story and Just when you think it couldn't get worse This valley of the shadow of death. He finds himself in verse 5 in the presence of his enemies surrounded by enemies sitting at a table All around him.

He doesn't know he can trust anymore You're gonna get there if you're not there yet, you're gonna get there at some point You you'll trust somebody and they'll turn on you somebody you bared your heart to or You trusted in prayer or as David once said if it was an enemy said I could have borne it, but it was you You were my acquaintance. You you were my guide. We walked into the house of God together in company I could have borne it if it was an enemy, but it it wasn't an enemy.

It was somebody I thought I could trust you. I thought I could trust everybody in the kingdom of God Peter the Apostle says in first Peter chapter 4 in verse 12 To 14 he said beloved do not think it's strange concerning the fiery trial Which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you. Don't think it's strange That you're going to Jesus himself said in John 16 33 in this world.

You're going to have tribulation In this world, but be of good cheer. I have overcome this world In other words, I have overcome this world's power to overpower you. Do you understand you're going to have trouble? You're going to face flood.

You're going to face fire. You're going to face betrayal. You're going to face struggles in your own life You're going to come to places where you don't think you have any strength to go forward You're going to want to throw in the towel.

You're going to want to call it quits It's coming your way if it hasn't been there yet, but I have overcome the world Jesus says I've overcome its power to overcome you You will not be taken down by these things Every tongue that rises against you you have the power to condemn it because I have given you a righteousness that is mine I gave it to you and nobody can take it from you You are sealed he said in my father's hand and no one can take you out at the hand of my father You are safe. You are sound you are secure, even though you have to go through trial You will go through flood the days ahead of us are going to be tough I'm not going to sit here or stand here and try to tell you it's going to be a smooth sailing It's not it's going to be difficult for all of us, but Jesus Christ Already lives inside of us. He already has overcome the power of this world to overpower the church of Jesus Christ He said you are the church my church And I have built this church upon a rock and the gates of hell will not prevail against it You will not be overcome So don't think it's a strange thing when when trials come your way Difficulty comes to remember my son.

My oldest son got badly burned in a fire. I was serving God I was serving God with all my heart I was just moving into the ministry and suddenly I'm in the hospital with my son having survived a fire but it was it was it was Debatable as to whether or not he'd ever be able to use his hand again Or whether or not there'd been any scarring had it gone on any other parts of his body. I Remember the fire.

I remember losing everything twice twice. We lost our home folks We lost one to fire and one to flood I said to Pastor Teresa once we the only thing left is an earthquake and then I looked at her I said Oh, I wish I wouldn't have said that I wish I wouldn't have said that Don't think it's strange, but I can tell you through all of these things God has been our strength. He's been our provision He's been our help.

He's been our protector He's been there before it started. He was there when it was all over and we stand by the grace of Almighty God. I Find no fault in him.

I can honestly tell you that I find no fault in the faithfulness of God and Everything that we've been enabled to go through has been for a purpose That's what the Word of God says all things work together for good to those who love God and are the called According to his purpose that means all things not just some things not just the things I like not just the things that are sweet, but all things work together for good working something into us Even if all the things that we've gone through were just for the reason of standing here today. It's worth it Standing here and saying you will make it you will not be overthrown You will know what no matter what comes your way. You will not be taken down because you have somebody inside of you That's greater than anything that this world will ever send against you Don't think it's strange Concerning the fire trial which is to try you as if some strange thing has happened to you Listen to the words of the Apostle Paul in 2nd Corinthians chapter 1 verses 8 to 10 For we do not want you to be ignorant brethren of our trouble which came to us in Asia We were burdened beyond measure above strength so that we despaired even of life We had the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves But in God who raises the dead Who delivered us from so great a death and does deliver us in whom we trust that he will still deliver us This is the Apostle Paul this is the man that God sovereignly met and Set him apart to write much of the doctrine we have today in the New Testament in our Bibles You'd think he might give him a pass in a sense You don't make his life a baby a little bit more easy because of what he was commissioned to do But yet Paul by his own hand says I don't want you to be unaware Brothers of our trouble which came to us in Asia and they were preaching the gospel there We were burdened beyond measure.

In other words, there was so much put upon us We couldn't bear its weight. It took away our strength and it came to the point where we were despaired of even living This is the Apostle Paul This is the one that wrote much of our New Testament now Everyone has a middle story Now many of you are in your middle story. Now you've started in your middle story the middle of your story You've come out of the the romance period.

This is like a wedding We're gonna have wonderful wedding tomorrow and and the bride and groom. They're just they're just so in love with each other They don't see any flaws in each other. Don't see any faults Give it some time Give us it starts with socks on the bathroom floor.

That's where it starts and You know just to habits and things that people do and there's gonna need to be a growth period there David was anointed to rain, but he had a middle story as well. We have a middle story He gives us that initial Honeymoon period so we can learn to love God and learn that he loves us and learn to trust him Because there will be a valley of the shadow of death in every life There will be Enemies that you're gonna have to face and learn to sit at the table and let them use their swords to butter your bread That's all they're gonna be able to do Now listen listen to David. He's anointed to rain, but I want to just take a couple of excerpts from his middle story starting in Psalm 18 David says these words in verse 4 The pangs of death surrounded now keep in mind.

This is the sweet psalmist. This is the sweet shepherd This is the coming King of Israel just as you and I are Slated to rule and reign with Christ David was anointed by the Prophet Samuel to be a king in Israel in the same way You have been anointed. I have been anointed when we received Christ The Spirit of God came upon us and the Bible promises that we will rule and reign with Christ So just like David was you're anointed and just like David did you're going to have a middle journey of your story Let's put it that way in Psalm 18 verse 4. He says the pangs of death surrounded me and Floods of ungodliness made me afraid you all you got to do is read the news and godliness is abounding in our generation It's on steroids It's like a snowball rolling down a hill getting bigger and bigger and bigger all the time The sorrows of shale or hell surrounded me the snares of death confronted me You know in my distress I called upon the Lord and cried to my God and he heard my voice from his temple and my cry Came before him even to his ears I don't know what his cry was, but I think it's very similar to what mine's been over the years Jesus help me Sometimes that's all you got left to pray.

Sometimes I can't even get that out. My prayer is a ah That's a prayer I don't know it's a prayer You might not think it is but he has the ability to interpret that and to draw it out when we just don't have any words anymore to pray Everything seems to be against us and around us, but that wasn't the end of his story David didn't finish his journey Surrounded by the things of hell and in distress and afraid of ungodliness in Psalm 18 verse 36 He says you've enlarged my path under me so that my feet did not slip in other words You let me remember David said he leads me in passive righteousness for his name's sake You made a way for me when there was no way When I couldn't figure out how I was gonna go How am I gonna go back to that job one more time back to that neighborhood back to that apartment back to that city? back to that dark Dank room that I have to call home every night. How am I gonna go back there? But David said you enlarged my path under me You gave me a bigger vision than just where I'm going to you showed me something beyond this I've pursued my enemies and overtaken them in other words every every voice that say you're you're not going to Amount to anything you're finished.

You're done. You're doomed. You're damned I pursued them and overtook them and I didn't turn back again till they were destroyed I've wounded them so that it could not rise they've fallen under my feet For you've armed me with strength for the battle you've subdued under me those who rose up against me You've given me also the necks of my enemy so that I destroyed those who hated me You see it wasn't the end of his story and it's not the end of your story You might come to the end of your strength But I love to say this and I've said it many times in this church the end of me is the beginning of God Thank God when I've come to the end Psalm 22 David said these words my god my god.

Why have you forsaken me? He was feeling overwhelmed Why are you so far from helping me if you ever prayed prayers like that if you haven't give it a bit of time Why are you so distant from the words of my groaning God? I cry in the daytime, but you do not hear in the night season. I'm not saying other words. I'm doing my part.

Where are you? I'm praying didn't you say whatever I prayed believing I would receive so here. I am I'm praying. Why am I not receiving? I'm not silent in the night season, but you are holy and thrown in the praises of Israel our fathers trusted in you They trusted and you delivered them.

They cried to you and were delivered. They trusted in you, and we're not ashamed So David's basically saying why are you not doing for me? What you've done for others you ever come to church and everybody around you's got a testimony of victory and You're not Living there. You're just struggling to breathe You're underwater you got a straw and you're underwater and you're breathing through a straw It's your last hope you're gasping for air and and everyone around is all praise God.

I got a new car praise God I was blessed with a new job, and you're going blah blah blah you know and you're underwater with your straw trying to breathe I've been there. I know what that feels like But that wasn't the end of his story was it now Verse 22 he says you who fear the Lord praise him all you descendants of Jacob glorify him and fear him all you Offspring of Israel for he is not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted nor has he hidden his face from him But when he cried to him he heard he said David said God even though my prayer was an accusation Against your faithfulness you still heard and you still answered and thank God that was that that that accusation Against you was not the end of my story praise be to God in psalm 31 David was battling his own failings with his own failings in this the criticism of others that are only So happy when we're struggling to point out our struggles to us Psalm 31 verse 9 have mercy on me. I'm in trouble My eyes waste away with grief my soul in my body My life is spent with grief my ears with sighing my strength fails because of my iniquity all my bones waste away I'm a reproach among my enemies, but especially among my neighbors I'm repulsive to my acquaintances and those who see me outside flee from me.

I'm forgotten like a dead man out of mind I'm like a broken vessel. I hear the slander of many and fear is on every side does that sound like a king to you? It is it does actually because it's the pathway to ruling and reigning That's the whole point that the Lord's given me to make today It's not an easy journey that you're about to undertake but it is eternal it is with God Hallelujah, and and you will succeed at the end. You'll not be overcome But in verse 19 he says oh how great is your goodness which you've laid up for those who fear you Which you prepared for those who trust in you in the presence of the sons of men? You shall hide them in the secret place of your presence from the plots of man You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion or a shelter from the strife of tongues Blessed be the Lord for he showed me his marvelous kindness in a strong city.

Oh, thank God This is a strong city This is a city that would want to chew you up and spit you out in the sidewalk as a believer in Jesus Christ But thank God that he surrounds us with his presence. Thank God that as as he once wanted to do at Jerusalem Spreads his arms and pulls us close to his heart and he says let me shelter you for a season Listen to my heart. Listen to my words Listen to my thoughts that I'm thinking towards you so that you'll not be Prayed to the voices around you that are trying to remind you of your failures and lastly Psalm 38 verses 1 to 6 Oh Lord, he says don't rebuke me in your wrath or chasing me in your hot displeasure For your arrows pierce me deeply and your hand presses me down There's no soundness in my flesh because of your anger nor any health in my bones because of my sin My iniquities have gone over my head and like a heavy burden.

They're too heavy for me My wounds are foul and festering because of my foolishness. I'm troubled I'm bowed down greatly and I go mourning all the day long Even though David had been the sweet psalmist of Israel he had done the unthinkable he had sinned against God he had sinned against another man who was a faithful loyal soldier in his army that sinned against his wife and David knew it and he was almost overwhelmed with anguish By his own sin and there are points in the Christian life where we falter and fail again It happens to people the old things that we thought were defeated come back and try to defeat us again And the enemy is there condemning give it up throw in the towel You'll never be anything. You'll never be righteous.

Just quit right where you are and We in measure say God it's over my head. It's too heavy for me I'm troubled I'm bowed down and I'm mourning all day long. I don't feel sound anymore But you see that wasn't the end of his story and if you're struggling today, it's not the end of your story If you're in the middle of your story, but you're not at the end.

Remember this one thing Jesus Christ is not some fickle friend That takes off when times get tough. He went to a cross for you. He suffered for you.

He was spit on for you He was mocked for you. He was whipped on his back for you. He was cursed by the soldiers for you He was nailed to a cross for you And when they pierced his side the last drop of blood and water came out of his body and he did all of that for You think he's gonna walk out because you struggle you think you're good It's gonna walk out because some old battle comes back into your life and tries to take you over again not on your life He isn't he had said I will never leave you nor forsake you a nursing mother He said to the prophet Isaiah could forget her child But I will never forget you because I engraved you on the palms of my hands When he went to the cross you were engraved on the palms of the hands of Jesus Your name was written there with a nail on his palms He said a nursing mother could forget but I will never ever ever forget you.

I Died for you. I love you with an everlasting love and I'm not gonna let you go. I'm not letting you go down I'm not letting hell triumph over you.

I am your God. I am your shepherd I will lead you in passive righteousness for my name's sake. I will pull you up I will pull you up and I'll even give you a banquet to eat in the presence of your enemies I will sit you down and I will feed you David said I've waited Psalm 40.

This is the end of David's story. I waited patiently for the Lord He inclined to me and heard my cry He brought me up out of a horrible pit out of the miry clay set my feet upon a rock and Established my steps and put a new song in my mouth Praise to our God Not not praise to my faithfulness not praise to my loyalty not praise to my ability not praise to my fighting ability But praise to our God You've given me the victory no one else No one else So David in the middle of his journey had to deal with jealousy betrayal threats of harm feeling overwhelmed Battled with his own failings battle with the criticism of others and had to battle with the anguish over his own sin But God responded by giving him sure footing He gave him strength for the battle power to overcome the ability to praise even before the victory came He hid him from critical voices He showed him incredible kindness even in a wicked city and gave him a new song of confidence in God What do you think his song was Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Goodness and mercy Followed me all the days of my life when I failed Mercy when I felt unworthy goodness Followed me all the days of my life. Not just some days not just on the good days But all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever You will rule and reign with Christ Praise be to God what a day that's going to be what a day that's going to be I I See the day pastor Tim when all of us we just go we're not the best runners We're like the 17th place runner in the Olympics.

You understand? We're not the best runners in the race, but we come over the line Goodness and mercy or with goodness and mercy goodness and mercy We come over the line by the grace of Almighty God and we rule and reign as David did With Christ forever that is your portion until that day You will have a middle journey There'll be the center part this the middle the middle third of your journey and then eventually you get through it You say God This whole walk has been grace It's all mercy You get to the end and you just Just love him more than you ever have before and you come right back to the beginning the Lord's my shepherd I shall not want Oh God Thank you Thank you for how good you are. Thank you Lord for the the mercy that we have known. Thank you for the mercy We know today.

Thank you God that you'll give us victory over besetting sin. Thank you Lord Jesus Christ You'll take us through our struggles and trials and difficulties and even our misunderstandings of you Thank you Lord that you won't let us go because you love us as your people we praise you we bless you God We bless you Lord with all of our heart. I Want to give an altar call this afternoon As for people who are in the middle journey don't give up don't give up Don't give up Don't quit It's not a strange thing the trial you're going through Others have been there before they've gotten through it.

You'll get through it too as well You have a real enemy out there You'll do everything in his power to take away your confidence In God through Jesus Christ But he can't have you he can't have you Can't have you Even if your voice is only a whisper in the dust you'll still rule and reign with Jesus Christ one day God is so so faithful so faithful I Can say like David I've been young and now I'm old I've never seen the righteous forsaken Or a seed big folks. I've been a lot of places throughout the world. I can honestly say I've never seen the righteous forsaken Not once I can't think of an instance where I've been where where a believer in Christ doesn't have bread or doesn't have a roof Of some sort or doesn't have it's not always been the most elaborate But I've never seen the righteous forsaken He's true to his word Or a seed baking bread So today, why don't you just let him? Give you that new song That song of confidence in God that song of trust in God that that song that is not produced by the circumstance of your life It's produced by a knowledge that's higher than that We're gonna stand in just a moment and I'm just gonna give you an opportunity to come forward we're gonna pray together There's a lot of people came this morning Just to say God Help me to be aware Of your goodness and mercy had somebody say to me this morning Goodness and mercy have been following.

I wouldn't mind if they catch up to me Okay, I'm okay with that if that's your prayer that's okay, that's okay, but just the expanded heart The expanded vision the expanded understanding This is not just I didn't get the short end of the stick in the Christian life This is just the journey and it's everybody's journey I'm not gonna let it. I'm not gonna let this the struggles I face I'm not gonna let them take me off the path or lose my confidence in God The one thing is gonna produce in me I guess is more of an appreciation for his mercy and his goodness How good God is? Imagine when we get to heaven and we get a crown No wonder we'll be taking it off Throwing it at his feet, but it just appears again. We throw it it appears we throw it His gifts are without repentance, you know, oh God, thank you.

God. Thank you. God.

Let's stand together And if you are in that middle journey and you just need encouragement, come on, come on meet me here We're gonna pray together. Just just make your way down slide out of your seat Make room for everybody in the balcony go to either exit. Come on down And join these that are coming from everywhere move in close give room for people praise God I Had some of the strongest people tell me after this morning service that they were on the edge of throwing in the towel Do you understand people you'd never think? But the devil's no respecter of persons he'd feel he'll fight with the same lies whether you've been ten years in God or ten minutes You We're gonna make it we're gonna make it we're gonna make it And we're gonna make it in victory.

We're gonna we're gonna cross that final line with our hands raised in the air Saying goodness and mercy has followed me all the days in my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord Just come on. Come on