 Matthew chapter 1 verse 23. Behold the virgin shall be with the child and bear a son and they shall call his name Immanuel which is translated God with us. Turn to your neighbor say Immanuel and then let them respond God with us. Let's practice again. Turn to your neighbor say Immanuel. Let them respond God with us. Go ahead. All right a little bit confusing. Church Immanuel. Church Immanuel. Amen. God with us. God with us. Christmas is such a wonderful season where we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Now most of us know that Jesus most likely was not born in December but the fact that we have a chance to celebrate his birth is a great occasion. The fact that we're able to give gifts to our family, spend time with our family is also a really great great occasion. But a Christmas time for many people in our culture and maybe some people sitting in here or watching us on live stream might be very difficult. Not only for Tim and Kelly who are in the hospital and you know they're looking for Christmas not as a time to get together but as a time for a funeral. There are other people in our midst who Christmas is a very difficult season in their life because it's a family holiday and we live in the most broken family culture where people don't know their mothers and their fathers, where people live in loneliness and isolation, where people live in separation and brokenness and I want to speak today to those who are maybe experiencing some of those things as we're going through Christmas. And while we're hearing songs about joy and peace and goodwill toward men maybe you're looking at your situation reflecting your circumstances and you're saying you know what that is awesome for you guys but for me my situation is different. My life is very different. I want to tell you something that Jesus did not come for the high rollers. Jesus did not come for holier than thou. Jesus did not come for those who have no needs. Jesus is God and he was very practical. He came to bring the good news not to those who lived in palaces but to the poor. He came not to those whose lives were doing great but to those whose hearts were broken. Jesus did not just come to those who were free. He came to those who were in prison and those who were in chains. And I want to tell you today is that Christmas is not only for those whose life is perfect but it's for those who God is about to make their life perfected. Who's about to step in into their situation and bring change and bring transformation. God with us. Church Emmanuel. This is a promise of God with us. Every religion attempts to put a man in a place where he is with God through scripture or some kind of a reading through some kind of a prayers. Muslims pray five times a day. Some people focus on meditation. Other people focus on staying away and denying pleasure. Denying even their physical body so that they can achieve a higher level of enlightenment. Everyone focuses on being with God. What makes Christmas different is Emmanuel. God came down and he said, you're not just going to be with me. I'm going to be with you. You don't have to focus on being with me. You just have to focus on me and I'll be with you. And it's a completely different dynamic. Everyone always tries to reach God but in Christmas God came down and he reached us. Emmanuel. God with us. Now the concept of God with you is a little bit different for us today than it was for people in the Old Testament. If you read in the Old Testament and it says of a person that God was with them it always indicated that there was something special about them. Something unique about them. Something peculiar. Something that made them stand out. Something that made them outstanding. Something that made them noticeable by the culture. Something that they could not go in without being noticed by their peers and even by their enemies and the haters. For example, when it says the Lord was with Joseph it right away indicates that Joseph was successful. It did not mean that Joseph did not have problems. In fact, when it said the Lord was with Joseph, Joseph was sold as a slave but as a slave God's presence with Joseph did not change his slave status but as a slave he was still successful. And then it says Joseph became a prisoner falsely accused and you would think this would be a good moment where God will drop Joseph and says you know what you're accused of a really shady stuff. I don't want to do nothing with you but the Bible says and the Lord was with Joseph in jail and he prospered. It speaks of David that he was handsome, that he played an instrument, that he was a man of valor and it says this at the end of his resume and the Lord was with him. It made him different. We look at David, oh he killed Goliath, he's a big giant killer but the secret is the Lord was with him. In fact it speaks of Gideon when an angel came to Gideon and says mighty man of valor the Lord is with you. And Gideon says uh hold on that's not how this goes. If the Lord is with me he says where are the signs? Where is the proof? Where is the the miracles? If the Lord is with me why am I in this situation? And the angel responds back and he said listen God's presence with you is not an indication that you will have no problems but it is an empowerment that you will rise above those problems. You will overcome those challenges and those problems will not be permanent in your life. They will become temporary and your test will become your testimony and your scars will become your stars and your mess will become your message and the things you've been through are just simply going to become something that you're going to glorify God for and Gideon eventually became that man. And here we see Jesus comes on the scene and he said it speaks of Jesus Emmanuel which means it's almost like God is saying the little big guys like David, Gideon, Joseph their secret was the fact that I was with them and today I want to give exactly same opportunity to every single person. You might not be the David, you might not be the Joseph, and you might not be those people in the sense that you're not going to be somebody that's going to be on the top of a news cover or you're not going to be somewhere where you're going to have a viral video that will go there and then you become famous or rich but God says this is what's going to happen. I lend my presence to you. My presence will be with you. I will be with you. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you and in your world of influence you will be outstanding, noticeable, with influence, distinct unlike everybody else. You're not going to go with the flow. You're not just going to be part of a clique and part of the crowd. You will stand out. Why? Because I am with you. When God is with you, you have power. When you are with God, you have peace and we need both. I'm going to read to you Psalm 23, one of favorite psalms to memorize and I would encourage to memorize scriptures. In Psalm 23 it says the following, the Lord is my shepherd and I shall not want. He makes me lay down at green pastures. I always wonder why he makes me lay down because I think none of us want to rest. God makes us lay down and sometimes the way he makes us lay down is he gives us a little fever because many of us don't know how to lay down until we get sick. Many of us don't know how to take a day off until we get ill and I wonder, that's just personal revelation from you. I'm not saying this is for you but I know, I wonder sometimes if God says, hey, if you will take more days off, you won't have to take them off. He makes us lay down. Why does he makes us lay down? Because we don't want to rest. We want to keep on going, going, going, going, going. Even God rested on the seventh day. So my friend, even if you're God, you still need rest. And so you need to learn to rest. He makes us lay down. Somebody say, make me Lord. Help me Lord. He makes us lay down at green pastures. He leads us beside still waters. He restores our soul and then he says, he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. And this is beautiful, wonderful. And then he gets to verse four. And the verse four is, nobody likes this verse. It's beautiful to quote. It's amazing to say. It's very difficult when you go through it. It says, yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For you are with me, Emmanuel, Emmanuel, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil. And the secret is Emmanuel. God is with me. He says, you are with me. And then he says, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Maybe today as a believer in Jesus, you found yourself in a place of your life in verse four. You've experienced what it's like to have God make you rest. Green pastures, still waters. But maybe your life has gotten today to a place where it's, yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I want to encourage you today. One is that God does not stop being with you when your life gets dark and down. Valleys are not up and valleys are not light seasons of our life. Valleys are down seasons. Valleys are, it's when things, when you're not going up, when your stock is not going up, when your savings is not going up, when your health is not going up, it's when things are going down, down, down and you can't stop them from going down. And you rebuke them and they still go down. You march seven times around your house and do that dance and they're still going down. You named it, claimed it, blabbed it, grabbed it, confessed it and possessed it and it's still going down. It's valley is, it's not up, it's, it's, it's down. And not only it's down, it's one thing when it's down but it's, it's dark there. Have you ever been Christian, giving you tithe, reading the scriptures, not smoking, not drinking, not doing the stuff that you know you shouldn't do and the Lord is with me, the green pastures and out of nowhere the valley comes in. The valley is down and dark. As a Christian, you're not guaranteed life without valleys. You're just guaranteed that you'll never walk through the valley alone. And my friend, I'll rather walk with God in the dark than without him in the light. He is my light and my salvation. And when it's dark with God, you will find hope. And as you walk in the valley, you must understand is that God doesn't leave you in the valley. God doesn't wash his hands. You know how there are some friends that are only with you when you have money? And the moment you have no more money, you seem to not have time for them. They don't have time for you no more. They just disassociate themselves from you. But God is not like that. When you hit into the valley, David says, you are with me. And that is why I am not afraid. The secret to overcoming a difficult season of your life is not to have all the answers. It's to have His presence. Nowhere in here did David say why he hit the valley. When somebody passes away, we always ask the first question, why? When our family broken down, parents got divorced and you're only six years of age, deep inside there is this scream, why? What did I do? And I'm going to tell you one thing. There will be many things in life you will never have answers for. And God does not promise answers in the valley. He promises His presence. Because when you are in the valley, answers are not enough. When you're hurting, the answer doesn't work there. What only cures a bleeding and a hurting heart is the presence of Jesus. On the other side of eternity, we will get a lot of answers and explanations. But when you are in the valley, I want to let you know you will ache for answers, but what you're really hungry for is His presence. In His presence is fullness of joy, and in His presence there is no fear. He doesn't promise that if He is with me, I will never go through sickness, I will never go through trial, or I will never go through an attack. He just says I will never do it alone. And because I am with Him in the valley, something happens. The valley does not become my permanent residence. The valley becomes something I walk through, not somewhere I stay in. I don't become defined by my illness. I don't become defined by my issue. I don't become defined by my struggle. I become purified. I become sanctified. I become cleansed by those things that I go to. The fire cleanses me, but it doesn't kill me. The water purifies me, but it doesn't drown me. Why? Because I am not staying in the valley. I am walking through. I am walking through any walkers we have in this house this evening. I am walking through. I am not defined by my valley. I am refined by my valley. I am not defined by my storm. I am purified by my storm. I am not burned by the fire. I am purified by the fire. See the difference between someone who doesn't know Jesus, and someone who does, is the fact somebody else goes through the valley and then call themselves, I am a failure, my friend. Failure is an event. It's not a person. They call themselves, I'm an alcoholic. See when you're in a valley, your struggle doesn't define you. Jesus defines you. And you overcome your issue. I remember one time, you know, a person came and they say, I struggle with homosexual tendencies. See my friend, if you are with Christ, the homosexual tendencies don't become your identity. It's an issue you will overcome. It's not your identity because you identify with Jesus Christ. You don't identify with your struggle. You identify with your savior. You don't identify with your sickness. That's why you don't say things like I am sick. You say I am healthy fighting sickness. Sickness is not my identity. Jesus is my identity. I am not poor. I am blessed fighting poverty. Why? Because in the valley, this is temporary, even if it's been four years. Even if my mom, I had this valley. My dad had this valley. My grandpa was in this valley, but I am not my grandpa. I am not my mom. I am walking with Jesus who is my shepherd. I will not die in this valley. I will not live in this valley. I'm just passing through. I'm just passing through. I'm just walking through the valley. David says, yay, though I walk through the valley, my friend, having Christ doesn't mean you won't have crisis. It just means you won't be defined by them. It means you will not live in them. You will outlast them. You will be tougher than cancer. You will be tougher than arthritis. See, sickness is tough. You're tougher. Sickness is strong. You're stronger because you're more than a conqueror. I know that the issue is vicious, but you're victorious because you're with Christ. I just want to encourage everybody today who maybe you feel like the valley has zipped, has zapped your energy, and you feel like that is how it's always going to be. It's true if you're without a shepherd, but if you have a shepherd, it will not be always like this. The best is yet to come, that sign says, and I believe it. It says, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, it doesn't say, though I walk through the valley of death, now it feels like death, but the shadow of death right now, I have two shadows, one this way and one this way. I don't know how this is possible, but it's possible, maybe because it's the last service. Now, as my shadow is covering these precious people, it's not me covering them. It's my shadow covering them. I want you to see this about the valley. Why valley is so difficult is because the devil plays games with us by making us feel like when we are in the shadow that we are in death. As a Christian, when you lose a loved one, you go through the shadow. You don't go through death. Real death has been defeated on the cross. What we experience is the shadow of death. When you lose a business, when you lose a relationship, and it hurts so bad, and it hurts so bad, and it feels like you will not make it. I want to tell you something, it's just a shadow. Real death, real rejection, real shame, real curse was carried by Jesus Christ and it killed him. What you're experiencing, my friend, I know it hurts. It blocks the sun for a season. It feels cold and confusing, but it's just the valley where there is a shadow. There was a pastor. His wife passed away of a chronic illness. They had two children on the way to a funeral. He was trying to give an explanation to his two children of why their mom passed away. He knew that the answer wouldn't be enough. As they were pulling into the stop light, in front of them was a huge semi truck, and the light was shining on the semi truck, so the shadow was coming from the semi onto the road and onto the sidewalk. He looks at his two daughters and he says, if you stand on the way of semi truck, what will happen to you? They said, daddy, we will die. He says, what if you stand in the shadow where the semi truck covers? What will happen? They said, daddy, for a short season we will not see the light, but we'll be fine. He looked at both of his daughters and he said, what happened to our mommy is that our mom, and we right now, because of what happened to her, we stood in the shadow, but the real truck ran over Jesus. We are just standing in the shadow of that death, and he says, for a short season, we feel confused. For a short season, we feel like we don't see the sun, but that is just a short season, because this shadow will pass too, and we will see Jesus. We will see our mommy, but the real death covered Jesus. It didn't cover our mom. Our mom went to be with the Lord. I want to remind each person here today, what feels like death is just a shadow, because if you lost your business, the reason why I'm saying it's a shadow is because God still has something in your future. If you lost the relationship, that is not over. God still has something in your future. Even if you lost your loved one, and you buried them, and they went to be with the Lord, they're not gone. They are waiting for you on the other side. It's just a shadow. Because the real death Jesus took on across, and what we experience is a painful shadow. Just a shadow. Be encouraged today. It's just a shadow. One woman lost her house to a foreclosure. She couldn't keep up with the payments. She was a single mom. They took the house, and she went on auction as her house was being auctioned off to see who will buy it. Her prayer to God before she lost the house. Lord, help me to make payments, but she didn't have enough money. She lost the house. On the auction, she's standing there crying as her house is about to be auctioned off. And the lady comes in and sees her. He says, what is your name? She begins to have a conversation with her, and she finds out that that is her house that is going to be auctioned off. And this lady says, oh, I'm here today, and I'm actually interested in that house because I am buying a house for my son. And the lady went and started bidding on the house. She outbid everybody and bought that house, and she came at the end and handed this lady a title deed over paid off home. So there she was praying to make payments. And it looked like death, but it was just a shadow. Because on the other side, God didn't have the answer to help her pay the house. He had the answer over paid off house. There's something on the other side. Somebody say there's something on the other side. It's just a shadow. You don't know what 2020 holds, and that's why you gotta keep your faith. That's why you gotta keep your faith in God. But I want to remind each one of you that says in here, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. And it says this, for your rod and your staff, they what? They comfort me. It's interesting that Jesus has both. He has the rod. I think the staff is to guide us. And once in a while to give us a Pentecostal spanking. You know, like when we go off, the Lord takes the staff and says, you know, convicts us a little bit with his word. The staff is for loose spanking. But the rod is for the devil. The rod is for the wolf. The rod, the shepherd has the rod for the wild and the bad animals. I had a story. When I was younger, we lived in a four bedroom house, and I was very fortunate. I'm the oldest of five to have my own room. And it was such a wonderful experience. Having my own room is like, you know, really great experience. I had a fear of the dark for some time when I was younger. And I had this book that I started to read called, he came to set the captives free. I discourage you from reading that book. Any book that starts with the first page of prayer that you don't get scared for reading the book is not a book we should be reading. And so I read the book. I was so captivated by the stories about Satanism and the wife of the devil and like all of these scary spooky witchcraft warlocks and everything. But after you read something like that, your eyes get open and you become aware of something you were not aware of before. I remember I finished the book at about two or three in the morning. And so everybody's asleep, the little light in my room. I finished the book and I am scared to death to go to sleep because I feel that every witch in tri-city has just discovered Vlad is still not sleeping. I'm not lying to you. I felt like every witch is going to come to the second story window, crawl through the window and choke me to death. And nobody's going to be there to rescue me. You know, 16, 17 years of age, it is embarrassing to come to your parents and say, Mom, Dad, can I still sleep with you? I did have the thought to ask my parents if I could sleep at least in their room. But I was like, Vlad, you're 16 or 17. You're the oldest and you're the youth pastor. I think it's a little bit too embarrassing. So I couldn't ask them. I also was afraid to ask my brothers and sisters to sleep in their room. It just, it would be awkward. It would be wrong. So I did what I knew how what to do. I remember this song and I'll remember about Jesus' staff. I'm not going to lie to you. I did not have a proper theological understanding of what this meant. I didn't grow up in a culture of shepherds and sheep. We only had cows and pigs and chickens and so this was not like culturally relevant to me. So I only watched movies and I saw children's books. I saw this staff with a little like thing twisted and I thought that the shepherds used it to beat the wolves. So there I am at three in the morning and I said this prayer. I'm going to be honest with you. This exactly was said. I said, Jesus, in your word it says that you have a stick. I'm assuming it's for a purpose to beat bad people or bad demons. And Jesus, I am scared to fall asleep. Can I ask you please for this night only come into my room and stand beside my bed and if those witches will come and Lord they will come I'm going to ask you to use that staff and fight them like in Lord of the Rings. I didn't say the last part. I just made that up and I said that prayer. I really felt in my heart as I imagined in my mind Jesus came in and he stood beside my bed and I saw his staff. I felt that I saw his staff and I said Jesus I'm closing my eyes now. You're taking over okay. And then remember I'm slowly closing my eyes and I'm imagining in my mind Jesus is there and this is what I felt he said to me. He says you can go to sleep. I don't slumber or sleep. He says I'm going to stay awake for the whole night and if something does come to your room trust me I got it. And I said okay Jesus I'm closing my eyes now. So I close my eyes and next thing I know I wake up in the morning and praise be to God I wasn't bitten by no witches no demons and his staff worked. Now for those of you who I just insulted your intelligence of this scripture honestly when you're scared you're scared. If you're scared if there's a fear if there's nightmares if there's things happening in your house I want to remind you if there is fear happening right now in your life because of what you're going through and the enemy is bringing fear in your life. Your shepherd doesn't just hold your hand. He has a staff and my friend he wants to use it against your fear. He wants to use it against an anxiety. He wants to use it against depression. He wants to use against intrusive thoughts and suicidal tendencies. He wants to use that staff so that he can bring you comfort and bring you relief. Somebody you've got some praise right now to the Lord. Your staff and your rod they comfort me. Verse five you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. I believe that as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death as we begin to walk out from a difficult season one of the first signs that the season of the valley is coming to an end when God restores your appetite for his word in spite of the problems. When you start to eat watch this in the presence of your enemies that means you're no longer in the valley. You are now out of the valley. It may feel like well Vlad not really because the enemy is still there but you're no longer in the valley. If you are eating a season has shifted because your diet changes your destiny because your appetite can alter your atmosphere in the realm of the spirit. If God gives you a hunger for his word but a lot of us this is why we lose the hunger because of problems around us. I mean even talking to a person today who came up and said passive Vlad I lost I lost my appetite for God the things that are happening I lost that appetite for God and I know that feeling because when the enemy is standing there when the enemy is standing and poking and this is what we say Jesus could you do me a favor could you remove everything before I start eating and Jesus says no no no no no no let's let's have the enemy watch you eat you need to eat if you want to go to the next season the Lord is with you but he's not just with you in the valley he's preparing a table for you you know what that table looks like it's called a daily daily bible reading plan you know how that table looks like it's called weekly memorization of the scripture I know you know all the Hollywood stars and you know the NFL scores what about knowing John 316 what about knowing Philippians chapter 4 verse 6 7 and 8 what about learning Psalm 23 verse 1 2 3 4 5 and 6 I know you know all the movie stars what about learning Joshua 1 8 because see you cannot come out of the valley into your nicks next season if you don't learn to eat not of ESPN CNN Fox News Tri-City Herald or social media but you have to eat from what God puts on the table of his word I like what Roger said today he said when I open up the bible Jesus met me there I encountered God I truly believe one of the things our generation is lacking is this is they say I'm not going to read until God removes everything I am not going to fast until God removes everything what if God wants you to eat in the presence of your enemies what if Paul and Silas God wants you to sing a song when you're still got the chains what if God wants to march around Jericho when the walls are still standing Abraham what if God wants you to call your wife Sarah when she's still barren what if you need to learn to eat in the presence of your enemies meaning in the presence of laziness in the presence of Aaron feel like doing it in the presence is my life is hard I feel overwhelmed I am depressed in the presence of your enemies eat my God may God give you hunger in the presence of your enemies when Jesus raised the girl from the dead the first thing he told her is he said give her something to eat because somebody who came out from the shadow of death needs to eat you need to eat my friend you need to devour the word of God make a daily habit to consume God's word why because something is going to change your diet determines your destiny Adam was in a paradise but because he had food poisoning he lost the paradise Daniel was in a peril but because he had a right choice of food he rose to the top if you can't change your circumstances control your diet and I don't mean eat broccoli and don't drink soda I'm talking about you take the word of God the bread of life and you feed your soul with it because somebody say amen say this is my bible and I'm gonna read it he says that and he prepares the table in the presence of my enemies he annoys my head with oil what they say about sheep and I'm not a shepherd by by profession but from what I've read is the sheep you know in the valley they did not die from the wolves but something smaller than the wolf is more danger to the sheep than the wolves themselves it's called flies in fact it's not even flies it's the eggs from the flies it's when a fly goes on the top of the head of the sheep and it lays eggs that multiply and get inside and they actually can cause a poison and eventually kill a sheep and sometimes we are so protective against the wolves and so tolerant against the flies what is a fly a fly is something from the outside that lays a small egg on your head with a goal to penetrate inside of your head and to create more eggs until it takes over your entire system I believe flies are when people choose to depend their joy or happiness on what's happening around them because the bible says he annoys my head with the oil in Hebrews 1 9 it says because you love righteousness hated lawlessness the lord your god has anointed with the oil of gladness one of the greatest things that god annoys your head with is when god gives you a choice to choose joy in spite of whatever is happening in your life when you choose to rejoice and it's not an emotion it's a decision when you choose to be joyful and peaceful in spite of your situation and you reject the little eggs it's the little thoughts that come in and say you're worthless you know good your life sucks look at somebody else has it better you're supposed to be further it's the little thoughts that come in see we guard ourselves against the wolf and the hyena but it's the little flies that drop those eggs and they cultivate into more eggs you look in the mirror and another egg came in man I'm so fat I'm so ugly man you get in oh man I'm so uneducated I am such a failure I am so poor I am so not good I am so no god and these eggs they spread it's just the small eggs you don't go to jail for those eggs you just live in one nobody will put you in jail for thinking negative you know why they don't do that because the negativity is a jail in itself and then you didn't get eaten by a hyena or a wolf you just get eaten by a fly fly thoughts it's the thoughts that small thoughts add to another thought to another thought and that's why you have to make a conscious decision after you came out of the valley to choose to celebrate what God is doing to choose to rejoice in what God has done who he is and who you are not to compare not to compete and not to obsess with your mistakes and with your circumstances because everything you see around you will change can somebody say amen and then he says this my cup runs over some 231 starts with the Lord is my shepherd no lack bills are paid for the tide is returned to God kids are happy we have food on our table and the roof over our head and we even have a little house for a car called garage facebook is running internet is running everything is paid for to God be the glory that's verse one and then you hit a rough patch verse four but when you get out of the valley god doesn't give you what you had god gives you what you dreamed of he causes your cup not only to have enough but to overflow god says you started with not enough as my shepherd and now i'm going to take you to a place where you will have more than enough and you will become a blessing to others and other people will cry tears because they said you are my miracle you said no i just bless you with the car no you are my miracle because your overflow is someone's answer to prayer and god says you started as a shepherd but when i took you through the valley and you choose to feed on my word and you choose to anoint your head with gladness and then you chose to set yourself up to be an overflow my friend the overflow is not so you spill it's so that you bless others so that people we have hospitals that will be built so that we will have orphanages that will be sponsored so that we will send money to the overseas for missionaries to be supported the overflow is so the projects will be sponsored the overflow is so that we can raise awareness against human trafficking in our city the overflow is so that we can help the police department to do their job better and more effectively even if the city doesn't give them the budget the overflow is so that our hospitals run at the best level and so that people in our city who don't have insurance can still have the best care the overflow is so that we can help those who cannot help themselves that is what the overflow is and my friend i want you to tell you after the overflow god does something even more incredible because see when you start experiencing overflow there's a little devil the whispering says uh you had that before remember i guess what happened that failed remember how you failed before that's exactly what's going to happen again but god switches everything he said this goodness and mercy will follow you it's not gonna end like the last time god gave a rainbow to know and said this anytime you see clouds gather it's not gonna flood again he says i want to remind you it will not end like the last time i know you had a miscarriage but it will not end like the last time i know it ended in divorce but it will not end like the last time because goodness and mercy will follow me all when people start coming to our church and for like first six months it was so awesome and the devil was whispering in my head and he says it happened before for six seven months people came and then they all stopped and they left the church and that's exactly what's gonna happen but somewhere deep on the inside i knew the failure of my past is not following me again and as the devil you are a loser loser i'm a winner will follow me this church will grow god's kingdom will expand last time i want you to rise to your feet it will end differently you know why it will end differently not because you just shout it but because god's word says surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life my god my god and you know the the real secret because i will dwell in the house of the lord forever as long as i am planted in god's house god says you're gonna have two things stalking you for the rest of your life and no my friend it's not your ex-boyfriend you already got a restraining order on him you're fine it's not your dead collectors it's not your past god says i will have goodness and mercy follow you all the days of your life because you dwell in my house forever youtube community and click on the bell as well so that you can be notified when we upload the new sermon thank you for watching and god bless you