First Wednesday, June 2026

Type: Wednesday Evening Service

Series: First Wednesday

🗣️ Speaker: Pastor Tom Van Kempen

First Wednesdays are different kinds of services. They are broken up into smaller segments, and usually include interactive elements.

True worship is far more than a musical style or a church tradition — it is a full-body, full-heart response to who God is and what He has done. It can take the form of singing, joyful shouting, or quiet kneeling, and each expression invites God's presence and opens our ears to His voice. Ultimately, genuine worship transforms us from the inside out, softening our hearts, aligning our desires with God's, and making room for miracles in our lives.

• Full Transcript

  Oh, come, let us sing to the Lord.

  Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

  Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving.

  And let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise.

  Come, let us worship and bow down.

  Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

  Amen.

  Hallelujah.

  Hey, you got a praise in your spirit tonight?

  Let everything that have breath at you.

  Praise the Lord.

  Praise the Lord.

  Let everything That has breath Praise alone Praise the love I'll praise in the valley I'll praise when I tell Come on I'll praise when I'm sure And I'll praise when I'm daddy I'll freeze when in unnumber I'll freeze when surrounded Cause freeze is the lie My enemy drive About you as long as I'm breathing I've got a reason to breathe My soul so my soul I'll praise when I be head and I'll praise when I talk I got you, I'll praise what I know you're still in a joy My praises are where My praises are shower that much ever blow out As long as I'm reading, I got a reason to go.

  Be quiet, my God is a liar, and how could I keep it inside?

  Stay forever, oh my soul for his life.

  Come on, put your hands together.

  Oh, you're sovereign, Lord!

  Don't you say that with us?

  Oh, please.

  Praise cause you rain, praise cause you rose and defeated the great.

  Praise cause you're faithful, praise because you're true, praise cause this almighty way to sit again.

  Praise because you're sovereign, praise cause you raid, praise because you rotent me in the rain.

  Praise us you're faithful, praise cause you're true, praise cause there's nobody raider than you so I won't be quiet , I wanted to lie, I will like the I won't be, I won't be quiet, I wish you I won't be I won't be quiet I won't be quiet, my God is a lie.

  I feel like he waves out.

  I won't, I won't be quiet, that is a lie, I feel like he waves out every man.

  Oh wait without you for everything, for everything that happens , praise the Lord, hallelujah Let everything that I read.

  Praise the Lord.

  Praise the Lord.

  I'll say it again.

  Let everything that I read.

  Praise the Lord.

  Praise the Lord.

  Praise the Lord, let everything let everything that I read.

  Praise the Lord and again, praise the Lord one more time, let everything that I read.

  Praise the Lord.

  Hallelujah!

  Hallelujah!

  Oh, are you here to praise him tonight?

  Are you here to praise him tonight?

  I can't hear you.

  Are you here to praise him?

  Come on.

  I clear sin was ain't on me Shame was running deep But love was filled on Calvary Oh hallelujah But how can it be?

  I'm let some man read the sending in your victory.

  Washed in the blood, I'm as good as you Oh hallelujah, I've been washed in the water Washed in the blood, no because of you Oh hallelujah, I've been I have done what you've done for me all upon that.

  Oh hallelujah.

  University is celebrate dancing in your victory , washed in the water, washed in the blood.

  Hallelujah, have a wash simple wire, wash in the burden , have a wash simple wire, wash in the buttons who have a food Cause you took away my shame Come on and you yell into the ground Give out your money and the grave Hallelujah here I go She country Cause you took away my shape Oh and you may to the glory You got it, I mean I'll be on the run.

  You're caught through turkey and fell into the car.

  Hallelujah, hallelujah, you right, hallelujah, you right, hey, hallelujah, you right , my God, hallelujah.

  I 'm like I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood, as the Lord has you.

  Oh hallelujah, I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood, all because of you.

  Oh, can you just say hallelujah tonight?

  Can you utter a hallelujah in the house?

  So so so so good to me.

  Hey.

  Has he been good to you?

  This is my story, I'll testify.

  When I slept on blessing poured on my life when I start remembering how good.

  You in all say every fear here to me turn to a shed tears to my guide chains of depression broken by race I start remembering Do you remember how you've been Do you remember?

  You've been so so so so so You've been so so So me's weapons fall to the ground.

  Army is a heaven always around When I start doing the ribbon How do you carry my cross?

  You hold me by aid, you look like our But you didn't mean that way , stay now happy.

  Yeah, that's what you did.

  What you feel happy?

  You feel so, so, so, so, so, so good.

  So good, the lows and the eyes.

  I know that on my life and all how I sleep When you so so so so good to me I wonder if you remember I wonder if any of you can remember a time when he was so, so, so, so good to you, ain't it?

  Oh, there's never been a time where he wasn't that good to me, ain't it?

  So you gotta participate right here.

  When I say God is good, you say all the time When I say all the time You say God is good When I say God is good You say All the time When I say all the time You say all this When I say God is good You say all us When I say all the time You say all this When I say God is good You say all that I say all that time , you say I So so so long gun me my eye Wake you so so so so so And no man, I should night, the Lord I know that on my life, for that I see so so so so good to me.

  Hey, my God You bingo, you bing it, hey Oh I wish you'd just call that his name Jesus Hey So so so so so So good you have that you pay so so so so good I won't forget a time and you pay so so so So so so good.

  Do one more time, save one more time, eh?

  You say so so so so good Hallelujah Give him praise.

  Give him praise like he deserves it.

  Hallelujah.

  Awesome.

  You may be seated just for a few minutes.

  Because it's first Wednesday.

  Who can say amen?

  Because during First Wednesday services, we want a little bit more crowd participation than maybe we normally do.

  Maybe we should have crowd participation in every service.

  At least you're Your hearts should be participating, right?

  Your your minds should be engaged in every service that we have.

  And so you always should be participating, but On first Wednesdays that we do something special to help move you and motivate you just to get actively involved.

  So we don't highlight any one particular part of a of a service.

  For example, there's a lot of music, there's uh uh there's some preaching, but there's there's your part to play in all of this And so tonight I want you to turn your Bibles to Psalm chapter 95.

  Because Psalm chapter 95 is one of my favorite psalms, and maybe it'll become one of your favorite psalms after tonight.

  Because Psalm chapter 95 is simply an invitation.

  It begins with two real simple words.

  Oh come.

  And the whole idea is that God is inviting you to experience him.

  God is inviting you into his very own presence.

  God is inviting you to lift a hand, to do a little jig, to sing a little song, to raise your voice.

  He's inviting you to get involved in what we would normally call worship.

  Now many times that word has all different kinds of connotations in our mind and and and we get all formal with it at times.

  But please understand worship is really everything we do as a Christian, or it should be at the very least.

  In Romans chapter 12, we learn That we as human beings, once we've accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior, we offer our bodies as living sacrifices.

  This is our reasonable act of worship.

  This is what God wants us to do.

  And in this particular psalm There's kind of a roadway that he wants us to follow.

  Now, it doesn't mean we follow this every single time.

  But in this particular psalm, the first thing that we're encouraged to do is sing.

  Say sing.

  That's what we just got done doing.

  We were singing.

  We were singing unto the Lord.

  Psalm 95. 1 says, Oh come, let us sing to the Lord.

  Now, whenever you see L-O -R-D in all caps in your Bible, it means Jehovah.

  It means Yahweh.

  It means the God of the universe.

  And that's what God, through the psalmist, is inviting us to do: to come and to just start singing before the Lord.

  I want you to notice that what the psalmist doesn't do.

  He doesn't say before you come you have to get your life straight.

  He doesn't say that there's a lot of rules and regulations that you're gonna have to follow.

  He's just encouraging people to lay down whatever it is that is occupying their minds right now and to begin to worship him. to begin to celebrate in song exactly who he is.

  Now let me give you a couple of hints as to why this might be.

  Three ideas just in regards to singing that maybe you haven't contemplated before.

  Idea number one is this: songs are an expression of emotion.

  And they can be an expression of deep emotion or passion if we allow it to be that way.

  Now, what's interesting is in the original Hebrew language, the word o isn't there.

  Okay?

  It just begins with come But what the translators are doing and what I love here is they're trying to help you to understand the emotion behind this psalm.

  It's not, oh, come and have a good day.

  That's not the idea.

  The idea in this psalmist, oh come, I've got something exciting for ya Oh come, I've got something amazing for you.

  Oh come, God is gonna move in our presence if we come before Him with singing.

  Who can say Amen?

  That's the idea behind this.

  It's not a cold announcement.

  This is a passionate invitation.

  Because worship isn't merely something you do.

  It's something you feel.

  If you don't feel it, it's not really worship, just so you know.

  There must be emotion in this.

  There must be passion involved.

  Without emotion, worship becomes ritual.

  Without affection, worship becomes obligation.

  God isn't looking for performers.

  He's looking for worshipers.

  That's what God wants.

  He's seeking those who will Truly worship him, Jesus says in John chapter 4.

  Here's the second idea.

  Songs are actually gifts we present to God.

  Have you ever thought of that before?

  I I I mean sometimes I don't think people understand what they're doing when they come to church because they walk out in the door and they don't even sing the words They're looking around during the song service and not paying attention or they're mumbling, he's been so so so so so so good to me I I can't do that.

  I I mean even just saying the line one time all of a sudden I start having flashbacks as to all the times God has been good in my life.

  I start remembering his faithfulness, his graciousness His love, his care, his concern.

  And I cannot say he's been so so good without getting excited about it.

  And that's what this is trying to communicate.

  Throughout Scripture, songs are presented as offerings, especially in the Psalms.

  Listen to Psalms chapter 27, verse 6.

  Listen to what it says.

  I will offer sacrifices of joy.

  When do the words sacrifice and joy go hand in hand?

  Have you ever heard that in in modern uh literature and normal people talking?

  Yeah, I had to sacrifice a lot today and boy was it joyful.

  I don't hear that ever.

  But the scripture says I will offer sacrifices of joy in the tabernacle.

  Listen to what he says.

  I will sing.

  Yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.

  This verse is communicating that praise might cost us something.

  Praise isn't always easy.

  Oh, it's easy to sing when life is wonderful, but we're supposed to praise Him when it's not so wonderful.

  We're supposed to praise him through the darkest, most difficult times of our life because he is always, say always, he's always worthy.

  He is always God.

  The sacrifice is lifting your voice when your heart is hurting.

  And here's the third idea.

  Songs invite God's presence.

  Now, catch what's going on here in just the very first sentence in the very first verse.

  God's inviting you to sing because He wants you to invite His presence.

  As you sing, his presence arrives throughout scripture.

  Worship prepares a place for God's presence, not because God is absent, but because worship makes us aware of his nearness Worship refocuses our minds.

  So before we move any further, let's do what Psalm chapter 95 says, but maybe with just a slightly altered attitude, and that is let's come before the Lord. with singing.

  Stand with me, please.

  So I will shout with the boys of triumph shout with the boys of praise You got to now shout with the boys Of triumph, shout with a voice of praise, shout unto God for the victory, hey, give the Lord a Shout a break Shout with a voice of triumph Come on you gotta praise Shout with a voice of praise Won't you lift your voice and triumph?

  Shout with the voice of triumph With a voice of praise, why don't you now shout unto God for the victory?

  Hey, give the Lord a shout.

  Get on your brace with the voice Won't you give him love a break?

  Shout with the voice try me up.

  Shout with a voice of praise You got to now shout unto God for the victory Hey, give the Lord a shout of praise Triumphing in battle We are victorious God is most high over all the earth Jesus has come for his cock and Satan's defeated The means under my feet So I will shout with a voice of trying Will your voice of try on Shout with a voice of prayer To got to got to got to shout with a voice Try on, hey, shout with a voice pray.

  Why don't you shout unto God for the thing to read?

  Hey, give the Lord a shout.

  Triumphing in battle we are We are victorious Victoria That is most high over all the earth Jesus has conquered and now Satan's So I will shout with the voice of trial.

  Oh, I'm gonna shout with the voice where he can hold back my breath.

  With the voice of trial Shout with the voice of pray Why don't you now shout unto God for the victory?

  Give the Lord a shout of praise Oh, I don't know about you, but I'm ready to praise and sing.

  I'm ready to release the sound that Pastor Tom is talking about.

  You can't just stand still when we're saying Shout with a voice of triumph and victory, amen.

  Hallelujah.

  So we're gonna chant this out.

  Here we go.

  Shout out to them.

  Here we go, right?

  Shout for the victory, shout and you've been set free, shout.

  Oh, you know the words are on the screen.

  Come on, sing with us.

  Shout for the victory, shout and you've been set free, shout!

  Come on somebody.

  Well when we get to that part you gotta let out our shout shout for the victory shout if you've been set free shout Woo Oh I wonder if you've been set free in the house Shout for the victory Shall it give them set free shall Woo come all time Shout for the victory Shall it given set free shall I will shout with the voice of trying.

  Shout with the voice of prayer.

  Oh, you got to now shout with the voice of trying.

  With the voice of praise.

  Oh, why don't you now shout unto God for the victory?

  Hey, give the Lord a shout of praise.

  I'm in battle.

  We are victorious God is most high over all the earth.

  Jesus has conquered and saved and defeated.

  The enemy is under my So I will shout with the boys who try.

  Oh, we're shouting now.

  Shout with the boys of praise.

  You got to get your brace on Shout with the boys of trying.

  Shout with the voice of praise.

  Shout unto God for the victory.

  Hey, give the Lord a shout out of a praise.

  Hallelujah.

  Can anyone guess what the next point is?

  Come shouting!

  Can you believe that's even in the Bible?

  I I want you to think about this because when I first grew up in the church eons ago, we were never allowed to get loud.

  We were supposed to come in quiet.

  I I mean I find it difficult to enter church quietly.

  You know why?

  Because I've just got too much to be grateful for.

  I I just get too excited when I come to church.

  I can't wait.

  Robin and I, when we go on vacation, we still go to church We're not trying to get away from you guys, just so you know.

  We love the people of God.

  We love what takes Place during a church service.

  Listen to verse one as it continues.

  Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation Apparently worship isn't always done quietly.

  Now, let me ask a question.

  How many of you grew up in a church where shouting was acceptable?

  I I think there's a lot of people back here who came from that church, right?

  So How many of you came from a church where worship was primarily very serious and somber?

  So so look, I I mean the decision that a lot of people have to make as they start maturing in their Christian walk is am I gonna follow tradition or am I gonna follow the word of God?

  D do you hear what I'm saying?

  Because I can tell you my tradition told me to be reserved and the first couple of times I started raising my hands and and and maybe moving a little bit, I felt awkward.

  I felt like it was out of place.

  I felt like I might be doing something wrong.

  But there was a freedom. that overtook me deep down inside.

  And I began to realize like David, it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks.

  If I'm going to make a fool of myself, at least I have an audience of one who's going to appreciate what it is I'm doing.

  And what other people think isn't really what's important.

  And so we need to understand this scripture specifically says to shout, not just once, but multiple times.

  And it tells you how to do it.

  The shouting has to be done joyfully, the scripture says.

  Now, if you were here for Mother's Day, you heard the story of me telling some stories about my wife where she had won some beauty contestants in the past.

  And I remember When she was vying for the Mrs.

  Nevada pageant.

  And uh so uh she had a few disappointments in the past, and of course those judges were blind, just so you know Okay?

  And so this particular pageant came down to you know the the the top five and and so they they start with number five uh you know the fourth runner up and then they go to the third runner up and then they go to the second runner up and then they go to the first runner up and it's my wife standing up there and it's this other person standing up there and and I'm like oh Is she gonna win it?

  Is she gonna win it?

  And all of a sudden they go first runner up and they named the other woman, which means Robin was Mrs.

  Nevada.

  Now listen, I am sitting in the second row.

  And I jump to my feet.

  I'm screaming at the top of my lungs.

  I leap the first row, I come running up on the stage because they're presenting her with flowers, and I grab this woman and I make a complete Fool of myself.

  Do you know why?

  Because I was filled with joy.

  I was so Filled with joy, I had to let the world know what was going on.

  And this scripture gives us three different things to shout about.

  Number one, God is our rock.

  Who can say amen?

  So all that's saying is that God is stable when life is not.

  Do you get that?

  I mean, I I got a call today from a man who the doctors just gave him two days to live.

  Doctors just gave him two days to live.

  And he was happy talking to me on the phone.

  I go, I go, you sure sound in good spirits.

  And he said, why shouldn't I?

  He said, he said, God gave me a list of 40 people to call and just tell them how much I love them before I die.

  What I mean, what an amazing testimony this man is giving to me and to our church.

  He's from our church.

  Just a beautiful testimony of what God can do in a person's life.

  He wasn't discouraged.

  He wasn't despondent.

  He was believing that God still might heal him.

  But if not, he's going to spend eternity with Jesus Christ.

  Who can say amen?

  This man was filled with joy because even though life seemed unstable, he was holding on to the one who is stable, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

  Number two, we can be joyful that God is our salvation.

  Do you understand that there's nothing you could have done to save yourself?

  D do you do you realize that's what's really what's wrong with with all the people who don't know God?

  Is they think they are smart enough in and of themselves.

  They believe that they can reach God on their own merit, their own intelligence, their own charisma.

  But the Bible says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

  And that means we need a Savior, and God sent us Jesus Christ.

  Who can say amen?

  I mean, that's something to be joyful about.

  That's something to shout about.

  And third, God is our shepherd.

  I find it amazing that this analogy is found so often in the Bible We know Psalm 23, and we're going to be quoting that together in a little bit here.

  But it's found again, it's found right here in Psalm 95.

  We're going to get to it in a few verses.

  God is our shepherd.

  In the New Testament, there's there's the shepherd who leaves the 99 and goes after the one.

  Jesus says that he is the the good shepherd.

  That the idea of shepherding, taking care of us, is found again and again in the Bible.

  He leads us and he guides us.

  Even when it's dark outside, even when there's a storm, even if you're walking through the valley of the shadow of death, you can fear no evil.

  Because the shepherd is with you every step of the way.

  So I want you to join me.

  We're gonna make some holy noise.

  Okay?

  So clear out the lungs.

  Are you ready?

  Because I want you to imagine right now one thing that you are really grateful for What is something that is just such a blessing in your life that you need in this moment to explain Express it to your God, to your Lord, to your maker, to your rock, to your savior, to your shepherd.

  One, two, three, and then I'm gonna just let it all hang out.

  And I'm gonna say something.

  Has everybody got something?

  Yes.

  One, two , three, my grandchildren!

  And I j did you guys hear what I said?

  I said my grandchildren.

  And I just found out in the last couple of weeks that I have number 10 on the way.

  Yes.

  So so I am extremely grateful.

  I have one grandchild in college.

  Hey.

  I am old, you know?

  Hey, I'm glad.

  I I've lived a fruitful, victorious, wonderful life.

  And and you know what?

  The scripture says that even in my old age I'm still going to be fruitful.

  Right?

  I mean, a lot of people at 65 think it It's retirement time and it's all over.

  Not for me.

  I'm gonna be producing fruit well into however long I live, day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year.

  That can be your testimony too.

  You don't have to wrap it up.

  Oh, I'm I'm in my 60s.

  No, again, listen to me.

  Physically you can do this.

  But God still has a plan for your life.

  God still has a calling.

  I know somebody right now who's finally coming to grips with the thing that God wants them to do is to pray.

  Did you know if you physically can't do a lot of stuff and you can't get out very often, there's one thing you can do and you can pray And sometimes we think that that is an irrelevant ministry when in fact it's probably the most important thing anybody could be doing.

  So do not diminish your call because you are physically incapable of doing everything because prayer is so important, nothing else matters until somebody prays who can say amen.

  So that could be something that you're joyful to afford too.

  Now, here's the next thing we're going to do.

  Is the scripture says that we should shout joyfully with psalms.

  So I need you to stand up with me right now because we are going to in unison say the 23rd Psalm And I've picked the 23rd Psalm because many of you are probably already familiar with it.

  It might not be the same translation I have up on the screen.

  I'm going to have the New King James Version up on the screen.

  I don't care how you quote it, okay?

  I don't care if you go to the original King James Version, if you memorize it in the NIV, if you have the NLT, it doesn't matter.

  But there's going to be words up on the screen.

  But but this is what the scripture is saying, okay?

  Do you notice it says, let us come singing?

  Let us come shouting.

  Let us come shouting thankfully in Psalms.

  So it is a call to do these psalms corporately, not just by ourselves And so we're going to together say this psalm, and we're going to begin Psalm 23, verse 1.

  Is everybody ready?

  Here we go.

  The Lord is my shepherd.

  I shall not want.

  He makes me 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.

  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are 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.

  And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

  Who can say amen?

  Hallelujah.

  Hallelujah.

  You may be seated.

  Thank you for participating.

  As I was reading that here, I'm reminded, he says here, you anoint my head with oil.

  So I just want to get you a free announcement or advertisement for next Wednesday night.

  We're going to talk about the anointing next Wednesday.

  And I I'm telling you, this is one of the most important things in the entire world to understand.

  And so if you hang out with any of our normal Sunday morning people, you've got to just let them know you guys are missing it on Wednesday nights.

  God is communicating, God is talking.

  On first Wednesday, we had a glorious time.

  And in him, and this coming Wednesday, we're going to talk about the anointing.

  And who knows what the anointing does.

  It breaks the yoke.

  That that's that's one thing.

  If you're such a smarty what what book of the Bible is that from?

  It's Isaiah, just so you know.

  Okay?

  But there's a whole bunch.

  Jesus said that I've been anointed to preach.

  So you don't want a pastor who has no anointing.

  You need people in the pulpit who have the Holy Spirit in their life who can say amen.

  And we're going to talk about that next Wednesday night.

  Just a little free ad just for you.

  Another way we can express our thankfulness is in testimony.

  I added this one because we don't hear enough testimonies in the church nowadays.

  And there's reasons for this, okay?

  But we are going to be making a concerted effort to hear more people's testimonies over the upcoming months and years because we need to hear about the goodness of God.

  We need to hear the stories.

  We've got to listen to what Psalm says again in 145.

  4.

  One generation shall praise your works to another.

  If the kids don't hear what God has done in your life, they're not gonna believe he can do anything in their life.

  So we need to tell them, and if he's not done anything in your life, then you need to hear those testimonies from somebody.

  So the scripture says, one generation shall praise your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts.

  Praise.

  Listen to this: one generation shall praise your works.

  That word in the Hebrew language means to loud L -A-U-D, okay, in a loud L-O-U-D voice.

  In other words, if God has done something for you, you can't keep quiet.

  And I'm going to invite Billy Walsh right now to come on up.

  And he's going to share a testimony that I believe we all need to hear.

  Give him a round of applause.

  Well, I want to give a shout to the Lord today because the Lord is good.

  Amen.

  And I want to hear a lot of praising when I'm giving my testimony tonight.

  I I got I have a lot of good friends and I asked a couple of my friends to pray for me that love the Lord and I got a text right before I came in here said Billy Remember, there's no I in Jesus.

  Thanks, Mick, if you're watching online But you know what my testimony isn't about me look I could tell you my past uh the things I done the drugs I sold the the The mob that I hung out with, I could tell you a lot of things, but that is not my testimony today.

  And I thank God that's not my testimony.

  My testimony is Ephesians 2, 8 and 9.

  That says this, for by grace you have been saved through faith.

  That not of yourself.

  It's the gift of God.

  Nobody can boast.

  But I can boast in the Lord because that's my testimony that the Lord saved me.

  In 1977 in a church in South Philadelphia.

  I was convicted by the Holy Spirit.

  I knew that my life wasn't, I wasn't living my life like I should.

  I wasn't living my life like my mother and father taught me.

  My wife, who was my fiance at the time, had just told me two weeks before, Bill, we're not living like our my mother, like her mother and father racists.

  We weren't.

  And that was the truth.

  And I was in church.

  We both were in church.

  And when the message was over, I ran down to the altar and I said, Lord, I'm a sinner.

  I prayed the prayer.

  I said, Lord, I'm a sinner.

  Please forgive me.

  And I looked and my wife was down.

  She was my fight fiance at the time, but she was down at the altar too.

  And I thanked the Lord.

  My testimony is that when I prayed that prayer and asked the Lord to forgive me, that He forgave me.

  And I thank him for that.

  I know that.

  You know, Isaiah 118 says this.

  It says, hey, let's reason together.

  Another translation said, let's settle the matter.

  Though your sin be as red as scarlet, they will be whiter than snow.

  Though they're red like crimson, they will be whiter than wool.

  And the Lord did that for me.

  And he's continuing to do that for me And not only that, it just goes on.

  I asked the Lord to walk with me and to help me.

  And the Lord has been walking with me and helping me And he has always been faithful to me.

  My testimony is I got a God that's faithful to me.

  My testimony is that I got a God Like Philippians 1 6 says, that he that began a good work in me, in you, is going to continue it to the day of Jesus Christ.

  And that's why I can say, praise the Lord.

  That's why I can say thank you, Jesus.

  That's my testimony today.

  My testimony today is is a song.

  Many of you know, I'm not gonna sing it, but many of you know the old song I asked the Lord to walk with me.

  When darkness was all that I knew, He said to me that I should not fear That he would carry me through.

  Hallelujah.

  Come on now, somebody.

  Because did he carry you through?

  I'm telling you, that's my testimony today.

  My testimony is not about me.

  My testimony is about the cross. of Jesus Christ.

  And my testimony is this that I asked him to forgive me and to wash me and to cleanse me and to walk with me.

  And he did.

  I asked him for power and he filled me with the Holy Spirit.

  And I thank him for that because I want to tell everybody what Jesus has done.

  Listen, you we all have a choice.

  We all have this choice to make.

  Jesus paid the price.

  He covered just like in the Passover They put the blood of the lamb on top of the doorpost and judgment passed them by.

  Jesus Christ died on the cross.

  And now we have a choice.

  If we ask him to forgive us, if we say, Lord, come into my life, he promises that he will do that.

  It's not by your works, like Pastor said earlier.

  It's not by your righteousness.

  It's by the cross.

  What he done, it's his work.

  And that's why we can be saved.

  That's why I know, like John uh John 20, 31 says this.

  It says, these things are written that you may know.

  That he that you have life and life abundantly.

  These things were written.

  The Bible was written so that we know we could have life.

  I know My testimony is when I die, I know that I know, that I know, that I'm gonna go to heaven.

  Why?

  Because I was a good person?

  No, sir.

  I'm going to heaven because of the cross of Jesus Christ.

  I'm going to heaven because the greatest sacrifice, the unimaginable mercy, unimaginable grace has been poured out, and I accepted it.

  And My condemnation is covered, and you have a choice.

  If you don't accept the Lord Jesus Christ, then you're gonna have to deal with the consequence of your own guilt.

  I can't I couldn't do that.

  So my testimony tonight is that Jesus Christ is alive, that Jesus Christ is real.

  My testimony tonight is that I I want to tell every person I know that Jesus is real and he has a free gift for you.

  And when you come to him, it also says in Titus like this that the grace of God has appeared and offers salvation to everyone.

  That grace will teach you, this is what it says, it will teach you to say no to ungodliness and the worldly passions.

  It will teach you to have self-controlled, be upright and godly.

  In this present age, as we wait For the blessed appearing of the glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to make for himself a people that are his very own.

  My testimony is that I'm one of them people and I thank the Lord for it.

  Amen.

  Thank you, Billy.

  That was beautiful.

  The chapter goes on in verses 3, 4, and 5 and gives us more reasons to shout about God.

  And then in chapter 95 point verse 6, all of a sudden there is a tone shift.

  It seems to get more serious at this time.

  And so those of you who grew up in those more serious churches, you'll probably appreciate this part of the message because there is a demonstrative shift.

  Listen to what it says in verses 6 and 7.

  Oh, come, let us worship and bow down.

  Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker, for He is Our God, and we are the people of his pasture, the sheep of his hand.

  Today, if you hear his voice The shepherd is now calling the sheep.

  I almost called this section Combleating.

  Okay.

  But I didn't think it it sounded spiritual enough Even though that's what it's really saying here.

  It's saying, come to God like a sheep comes to the shepherd in total and complete submission.

  In total and complete obedience, willing to do whatever the shepherd says.

  And so, so It's important for us to really again start to understand more deeply what worship is.

  Just a couple of ideas here as we start wrapping things up.

  Number one, worship is about recognition.

  It's recognizing first and foremost who God is.

  God is our Maker, who can say amen.

  Okay?

  God is our God who can say amen.

  But but I want you to really notice he's our God.

  He's not just the God.

  He's not a God.

  He is personal in nature.

  It's only Christianity that advances this theological idea. that God actually loves and cares for his people.

  No other religion believes this.

  No other religion teaches this.

  Just the Bible.

  And so it's important to understand how much he cares about us as as human beings.

  He's our God.

  He's my God.

  In the Lord's Prayer it says, uh pray this way, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be the name, our Father.

  That's how personal this gets.

  And number three, and we already said it, he's our shepherd who can say amen.

  He's our shepherd.

  Number two, we recognize what God is worth.

  This is really the crux of the matter here, okay?

  Because we don't worship because we don't recognize his value We don't worship because we don't think it's worth worshiping.

  And yet that's what the word Ridley literally means.

  Bowing. is simply saying to God, you are the greatest thing in the entire universe.

  You are the most valuable thing to me.

  If you look at the word worship, it literally begins by shortening the word worth or worthy, okay, and adding S-H-I-P at the end.

  So worship means God is worthy.

  God is valuable.

  It's a declaration of his great value, is what it really is.

  So we all worship something.

  Right?

  It's easy to tell what you worship.

  You worship what is probably most prominent in your finances.

  You worship what is most prominent in the time that you give it.

  You worship success , position, money, happiness.

  I guess the bottom line is this.

  We either worship God or we worship ourselves.

  Isn't that the original temptation?

  You will be like God.

  That was the original.

  We can be God or God is God.

  And let me tell you, if we're God, we're not a very good God, are we He is a great, awesome God every time.

  Whatever sits on the throne of your heart will eventually receive all of your attention and all of your affection, all of your energy. and much of your resources.

  But when we bow before God, we're making a declaration.

  Lord, you're worth more than anything else in my life.

  You're worth more than my personal agenda.

  You're worth more than my reputation.

  You're worth more than my comfort and my preferences.

  You're worth more than anything I have.

  So I'm gonna surrender everything to you.

  In worship, in the book of Revelation, the elders cast their crowns before the throne.

  We sing a song about this, right?

  The question you have to ask is why?

  Because they received those crowns as a valuable reward.

  It's a declaration of all that they've accomplished on this planet.

  And now they're throwing them at the throne of Jesus Christ.

  And the answer is because those crowns are worthless compared to Jesus.

  He's worth everything.

  Worship is not just singing songs about God.

  Worship is placing God on the throne.

  So tonight, before we ask God for anything, before we bring him our needs, which we will do at the end of the service, let's recognize his worth.

  Go back to verse 6, okay?

  The verse says, Oh, come let us worship.

  Did you know in the Hebrew it literally means bow down?

  And then it says, and bow down, and let us kneel, which is another way of bowing down.

  So the scripture is is repeating itself, not just Once, but another time.

  Bow down, bow down, and bow down.

  And so I want to ask you to do something right now.

  Would you stand with me?

  And I'm going to give you an opportunity to literally do what the Bible says.

  Now Again, remember when you interpret scripture, you interpret it based upon where you are in culture.

  So Although literally you can bow down, the idea here is that you just give as much honor to God as possible.

  So we're going to make a couple of things open for you.

  We have these prayer benches right here.

  So if you are physically able to bow down, I want to invite you to come and and maybe kneel at one of these benches.

  You can do it right now.

  You can come on up to the altar area.

  This is the steps right here. here and you can bow down.

  If physically that seems like a challenge, need to make you aware of a couple of other things.

  Number one, we're gonna have people up here who will help you get up if you would really like to do that.

  But also, God will honor your effort by just sitting in your seat at this time right now and bowing your head and worship to Him.

  And so I just am asking you to do what the Bible. says to to respond faithfully in worship and bow your heads, bow your hearts, and and whatever else needs to bow and give him the praise and worship he deserves.

  And while you're doing that, the worship team is going to sing.

  You can sing along with them.

  You can stay in your place.

  You just worship God and how He leads you in this moment.

  Bound down and worship.

  Worship intown and worship.

  Bow down and worship , worship my God.

  Worship him worship worship him Oh worship him Powtown And wish everything I got to bring.

  This is her this is all the home I got this is We power down in your presence okay Who be power down in your presence okay Weep down in your presence okay All same power town and worship won't you worship Worshi worship him bow down now, bow down , enter me, won't you enter into Enter it to enter it , consume you by your work.

  We are now in the running highly going to show me my head.

  Say this is holy.

  Say this is holy con this is holy.

  Holy, holy are you on?

  This is holy so calm, so calm and Bow Bow Dow Down, Bow Down, or we bow in your place.

  We power in your presence, we bow in your presence, we power in your presence.

  Oh, we surrender in your presence, we surrender in your presence.

  We give you everything in your presence, oh God.

  Oh, we bow down, we bow down, we bow down.

  We bow down, we bow down, we bow down, we bow down, we bow down, we bow down, we bow down.

  Take on to me, sweet feel your awesome.

  This is holy ground.

  This is holy ground in your presence, my God.

  Oh, we bow in presence, we bow in presence.

  I hope you understand that it's not either or.

  It's not shouting, singing, or kneeling.

  It's all of the above.

  And yes, there is a shift in the atmosphere when people get a little bit more quiet and bow down.

  As a matter of fact, the reason why that the psalmist is asking us to bow is really in the verse 7 where it says this.

  Today, if you will hear his voice, let me give you a secret to worship that few people ever talk about.

  And that is, if you come singing, if you come shouting, if you come kneeling, God comes speaking.

  Did you hear what I just said?

  This isn't a one-way exercise.

  Worship is all about an interaction between human beings and God Himself.

  And so when when we begin to Understand this.

  I mean, how can we say no to any of the above?

  I want to do each and every one.

  And you know what?

  The order isn't always the same.

  It's not fast, fast, fast, slow, slow, slow.

  It can be fast.

  Fast, fast, slow, slow, fast again, slow again.

  See, the spirit blows as he pleases, the scripture says.

  And so there are things called waves of the spirit that come during church services.

  And so we want to learn how to catch the wave.

  When it's flowing, we shut up.

  And then when it ebbs, then we can ask. then we can praise, then we can say something in those moments.

  Worship has a way of tuning out all the other voices that we're hearing during the course of the week.

  And you know what voices I'm talking about.

  Media voices, our own desires.

  Um people in our lives and negative people.

  The devil himself.

  He's trying to whisper.

  He's trying to shout But worship silences those voices and gives us an opportunity to hear God precisely.

  Remember, Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice.

  Worship doesn't just help us express ourselves to God.

  Worship helps us hear God.

  And this leads to the last thing for tonight.

  Worship leads to transformation.

  Listen, it's not worship unless something in your life has changed.

  Are you hearing me True worship will always change you in some way, shape, or form.

  It is completely inevitable.

  For example, when I think of the presence of God, the the image that that flashes in my mind is Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 6.

  And he has this this picture of God on the throne.

  And what happens?

  He sees the glory of God.

  He sees angelic beings.

  He starts to sense his own unholiness.

  And the first thing he does is repent.

  That's oftentimes the first thing that takes place in our own lives when we're worshiping God is we sense this this film.

  We sense a little bit of dirt on the feet.

  We sense a heart that's far from him and and we desire it.

  We almost need to immediately just make things right with God.

  And that's perfectly okay.

  That's what happened to Isaiah the prophet.

  He had to get clean with God immediately, but but don't stop there.

  Our hearts need to change As Psalm 95 concludes, there is a challenge to not harden your hearts.

  Worship makes that possible because worship uh uh transforms our it makes them Soft, pliable, and responsive.

  Worship aligns our attitudes, desires, and dreams with God's heart And finally, circumstances change.

  Anybody need a miracle tonight?

  Well, one of the surest ways of receiving a miracle is worshiping God.

  Because everything gets clear when we worship God.

  And God will sometimes do crazy things like send uh uh an angelic army ahead and and make a way where there seems to be no way.

  Those are the things that God does.

  Victory is a part of this.

  Provision, healing, restoration.

  And he does this because you're the sheep of his hand.

  Shepherds care for their sheep.

  Shepherds love their sheep.

  Psalm 23 tells us that God prepares a table for you in the middle of all your enemies.

  In the New Testament, Jesus prepared a table for his disciples in the middle of your enemies. middle of of all their enemies.

  But we're coming to the communion table right now.

  Do you have one of these with you?

  If you do not have communion, would you just raise your hand?

  And uh there there's a few people who don't have it.

  Uh Ed is prepared to move.

  Uh Laura's over here moving.

  Anybody else?

  Need communion at this time.

  So the question we have to ask is: what's the message of communion?

  Well, let me give you five things: salvation, provision , healing.

  Restoration and victory.

  Would you stand with me, please?

  Could I have the prayer partners come forward at this time?

  And as they position themselves, I just want to instruct you with our items here.

  Be careful when you pull that bottom pull.

  The cracker sometimes falls out rather quickly, so make sure your hand is under it And then you can also pull that top one, which will reveal the grape juice inside there We try and do communion every first Wednesday.

  I think we've done it every first Wednesday.

  This is now our 13th first Wednesday.

  We began this one year ago this week.

  And I am so glad we've done it because we focus on what's really, really, really important.

  On the night Jesus was betrayed, he took bread, he blessed it, he broke it, he gave it to his disciples, and he said, Eat this in remembrance of me.

  Let's eat the bread together.

  So when the worship team begins to sing this concluding number, if you are sick in your body and you would like prayer, please come forward and have one of these prayer partners pray with you.

  Because we believe God still heals today.

  We believe that God can lower blood pressure, cholesterol, that he can reverse disease. that he can restore joints and muscles.

  We serve a miracle working God.

  He's the same yesterday, today, and forever in Jesus' name.

  On the same night he took the cup.

  And as I'm getting ready to drink the cup, I'm thinking of of Billy's testimony here today.

  And what I loved about his testimony was a lot of people highlight all the negative things.

  That doesn't mean we shouldn't be aware of them.

  He he told us there there was there was a couple of things that that he wasn't proud of But what he's proud of is the blood of Jesus Christ.

  Because it's the blood that washed all of that stuff away.

  And this is how Jesus described it that night.

  He took the cup and he blessed it and he gave it to his disciples and he said, drink this in remembrance of me, because this Cup, this blood that's going to be shed on the cross is going to bring about a brand new covenant.

  In other words, you don't have to sacrifice real lambs any longer.

  Because they didn't really solve the problem anyway, but my blood eternally solves the sin problem issue in Jesus' name.

  Let's drink the cup together.