Good morning, good morning, good morning, excited to have you guys here this week.

Good morning and if you are visiting here with us this morning we want to say welcome and please take the time to fill out a visitor card located right in the chairs in front of you and just put some information in there just so we can kind of touch base with you and fill it out put it one little churches up here or maybe one in the back and that's also where we receive our offerings as you are faithful to the Lord and give to the Lord.

We are excited about today for a lot of reasons and we'll just miss the kids in a second I forgot don't worry about that but we just got back from elders retreat we spent a few days down in the team effort camp down in Florida. We go once a year to pray and talk and to try to hear from the Lord and just kind of work some things out as well too.

I just want you guys to know that you have a group of men that serve in the elder body that absolutely fiercely love Jesus and fiercely love this church and so that is a blessing and if you get a chance at some point or another they would never want any recognition but just hug your neck.

Just let them know that you appreciate all that they do and all that they pray for in the life of this church and it is an honor to serve with these men as well too.

I want to celebrate we had the ladies clothes swap yesterday I think that was was it yesterday in the refuge there are still some clothes is that right left over in the refuge okay and we're going to donate them to a ministry if you don't want them.

So if you would like to go immediately after service and walk over to the refuge and look and see if there's some clothes that you not you Josh okay well maybe for someone else okay you can get a good Halloween costume how's that yeah there you go go over to the to the refuge and see if there's something that you just can't live without it's free it's free there you go and just wrap it up and give it to your wife and tell them you bought it for them just special for them Merry Christmas all that good stuff.

But yeah it's it's next door so please take the time to do that had a huge group of students last week a turnout for the movie the Cap the new not Captain Marvel but the Captain Marvel movie okay it's a female so I didn't want to say Captain Captain is Marvel but there you go.

Anyway the new Captain Marvel movie and so because it was such a great turnout we're just going to do a movie every Sunday right for the students from here until Jesus comes back yeah that's how we get all the kids to show up out of the woodwork yeah but it was a good turnout and just thanks to Joe and Casey for pulling that together and everybody who went and were part of that.

If you are a kindergarten through fifth grade kindergarten through fifth grade if you guys will follow Mr. Taylor and Jimmy Jimmy yes Jimmy has his coffee he's ready out the back right there kindergarten through fifth grade and for the rest of us let's grab our Bibles and turn to Genesis chapter 23 grab your phones grab your whatever your devices and scroll over there to Genesis chapter 3.

We continue our expository we continue our expository we continue our expository study verse by verse scripture by scripture through the book of Genesis we have now made it through to chapter 23.

Yes we're all we can almost say that we're halfway finished right with Genesis we'll have a few weeks of a break it I mean we did a week like three or four weeks where we did a a series on the stewardship of your biblical stewardship of your whole life I'll probably have a two week series around Easter with Palm Sunday and Easter

we'll break on Genesis we'll break on Genesis we'll come back to it but this has been this has been a huge study for us I was having coffee with a friend of mine Drew Thompson a few weeks ago and he said man what are you guys studying at Ramah I said well I'm actually doing expository study through the book of Genesis he started laughing he goes man you ain't scared of nothing are you I said yeah I mean you do Genesis you cover everything you know

and he says you're not skipping anything I said well not yet not yet we've had some hard stuff but we're not skipping anything yet

but anyway we're in chapter 23 last last Sunday was a pivotal pivotal pivotal time in the book of Genesis in entire scripture as we got to chapter 22 the sacrifice of Isaac

and really it should be entitled The Faithfulness of Abraham

catch it thank you all the tech team to make all that stuff happen behind behind the scenes but this week chapter 23 the sermon title is death of a princess death of a princess and so we get to chapter 23 and it's really kind of it's a it's an obituary again now this message today is not going to be one of those Joel Osteen feel good messages because where we are within the scriptures but I believe there's some application for us that we can all all

gravitate to because all gravitate to because all of us are going to go down this path at one point in time and all of us experience this at one point in time in our lives but it's the death of a princess Sarah dies in chapter 23 and Sarah's original name was Sarai and if you remember Sarai her name that means what contentious okay contentious that's kind of sad your name is contentious you know

and so that's your name you're growing up but the great news is God changes her name to Sarah which means princess and so that's that's good for Sarah but God God gives her the new name but Sarah is 127 years old and you're thinking you know wow that's old it's about time that she dies right okay and so 127 years of age and when you get 127 years of age

you realize that you realize that you're that you're that you're that you're that you're that you're you are old um verse 1 of chapter 23 starts off Sarah lived 127 years and and these were the years of the life of Sarah now it's the death of a princess this is the death of Abraham's princess all right and so if if you remember most of you are old enough to remember or young enough to remember or whatever but on September 6 1997

um um there was there was there was the death of um there was the death of uh the people's princess died as as she was called the most photographed woman in the world princess Diana passed away at that date and she was in a car crash and it was a big deal it was a a million people showed up a million people showed up to stand in line and watch that glass covered you know uh uh vehicle go down the road and and her casket goes down there and

2.5 billion 2.5 billion 2.5 billion people watched it on tv watched it on tv you know so it was a big deal it was a huge deal but here's Sarah dies and this is a big deal and here's why she's the wife of Abraham which means that she is the mother of the Jewish nation she's the mother of the Jewish nation there is no other woman in the bible where her age is mentioned her death is her death and burial and burial and burial

burial place are mentioned are mentioned except for Sarah very interesting and and it's because of who she is and she occupies a huge place within the scriptures and in fact women are told to emulate her emulate Sarah now here's something else you might find interesting nowhere in the bible is Mary the mother of Jesus given as an example for women to follow nowhere but the catholic church sure grabbed a hold of that didn't they and they

ran with it and then some and then some and still do today we won't get into that right now but she's lifted up as an example to women uh Sarah is twice within the scriptures once in Isaiah 51 where the Jewish nation is told to remember where you came from remember who you are remember your history uh you're from Abraham and Sarah and it says look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you okay in Isaiah 51

she is giving you birth she is giving birth she's the mother of the Jewish nation and the other one it's such a great uh it's such a great passage keep your finger here in Genesis and turn with me over to uh 1st Peter

1st Peter chapter 3 and let's just well let's you know what let's just begin in verse 1 likewise wives be subject to your own husbands so that so that even if some do not obey the word

they may be one without a word they may be one without a word by the conduct of their wives when they see your respectful and pure conduct do not let your adorning

for this is how holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves by submitting to their own husbands as Sarah obeyed Abraham calling him Lord I read that Scripture to Jill quite often but she doesn't adhere to it and her and her children if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening so this is what he's saying is here that the outward woman is not the thing that is to be emphasized which is totally totally backwards from today's society.

we concentrate on the outward woman is emphasized but Peter is saying it's the inward woman is to be emphasized and they use Sarah as an example of that once again to follow.

now I love the language in Genesis 23 about the death of Sarah in chapter 23 for a couple of reasons one is because it's very straightforward language it's just straightforward it talks about her death very openly and very plainly

and you know why death is just a fact of life did you know that 10 out of 10 people die 10 out of 10 people pass away now Lazarus was resurrected right but guess what he died again you know he's not still around Jesus still isn't playing that trick over and over Lazarus is still alive and somewhere in Bethlehem you know all that thing but it's it's a lesson for us as well too in chapter 23 the straightforward language

and we should learn something and that is in the preparation for our own passing our own death and again I'm not trying to be morbid just a reality check on some things where we are in Genesis 23 or maybe the death of somebody close to you in your family and you need to learn to talk about it openly to have conversations in many families it's like well we don't talk about that we just we're just not going to discuss it and if we don't discuss it then it doesn't happen do you know that that's a lie

but many people say well we're just not going to talk about it until that person dies okay and then when that person dies then we'll have that conversation about it you know I've met a lot I counsel a lot of people you know they say well we're just not going to deal with that until it happens well you better talk about it and get the right attitude first so the Bible gives us some very straightforward language the second thing I like about this I want you to notice in chapter 23 the language is very personal it's very personal

Sarah is mentioned by name Sarah is mentioned by name it doesn't say and the beloved of Abraham or the what the wife of Abraham or no it's Sarah it's it's personal I think that's huge and the other thing when Sarah passes away they don't give her body to the specialist or whatever to to handle the funeral and all this but she's put into the loving hands of Abraham it's Abraham who seeks to bury his wife I'll deal with it I'll take it I'll take care of it it's it's my wife verse 2

and Sarah died at Kiriath Arba which is Hebron in the in the land of Canaan and Abraham went to mourn Sarah and wept for her now it seems that every commentary I read and by the way there are several commentaries that I that I like to go to and I read oh and I want to study and there are several commentaries that that have chapter 22 and then they go straight to 24 they don't even touch chapter 23 they don't say anything about it I found that very interesting

and I don't know why they they pass it up as if it's like not of not of great importance but a lot of commentaries when they talk about it they they bring up the whole longevity issue how can somebody really live to be 127 years old and they make a big deal about how long people live even in the earlier times the the pre-flood antediluvium remember when we studied that in Genesis early on pre-flood and we they you know we we know that Adam lived to be what 930

30 years old Seth lived to be 916 years old Seth lived to be 916 years old Methuselah was 969 years old I mean at some point you have you can't blow out the candles on your birthday cake and you're just gonna die right it's like God says that's all the air you got you're done okay but you know there are there are a lot of people that that that that say well the Bible just makes this up but there are other records other than the scriptures of people living over 900 years old back it back pre pre-flood days uh

records in Egypt records in Persia records in India of all these people all beside

you

but we understand as soon as the flood takes place the canopy disappears okay Genesis tells us that and immediately following the flood what happens life expectancy started going down people didn't live as long we didn't have didn't have that covering but to me the issue isn't that she lived to be a hundred and twenty seven years old the issue to me is that how can she be ninety years old and other kings still think she's a hot mama if you remember two chapters ago

she's ninety and Abraham has to lie about who she is because she's so hot this other king's gonna want her I mean how good looking can this ninety year old woman be that's what I want to see I want to I want to when I get to heaven I want to ask God that you know go figure that but it says in verse two that Abraham came to to mourn Sarah she we he weeps over Sarah we talk about it when in Genesis especially anytime we get to what we call first mentions in the scripture okay

Genesis obviously has a lot of them this is the first mention of tears being wet being wept somebody mourning right here Abraham is weeping for Sarah now those tears are going to continue throughout scripture continue throughout history until we get to Revelation 21 when it says Jesus comes and he will what wipe away every tear

but we're not there but we're not there yet we're not there yet and really tears are the stain of humanity it's part of human life right here until Jesus comes back and restores all things but Abraham mourns his wife and I don't know why but I meet some scripture some Christians who say you know say well they try to be so pious and they say well you know what you really shouldn't mourn

you really shouldn't be be weeping right now because your loved one is in heaven your loved one is with Jesus and I just want to say that when if I hear people say that in the name of Jesus I just want to slap them because mourning is is a normal process it is a natural process this grieving it is how God designed the human body he's given us these little things called tear ducts and these tear ducts produce things called tears

tears they also wash away anything you wash away they also wash away anything you wash away anything you get in your eye they tend to give you moisture in your eye but they're also connected to the emotional part of your brain when your when your brain the emotional part of your brain triggers off and all of a sudden I got water works why because that's how God designed me I'm grieving I'm mourning it's natural I just want to say it is natural when this happens and when there's stress or loss in a person's life the Bible even says that there's a time to weep there's a time to

there's a time to laugh there's a time to dance there's a time to mourn so if somebody tells you that you shouldn't weep because well they've already gone to heaven you're okay yes they've gone to heaven but I'm still here on earth and I'm without them therefore I will grieve I'm going to grieve I would say it's very natural it's very normal I would even say it's unspiritual not to mourn in some way not to maybe you're a private person that's okay but there still should

be a mourning process a grieving process it would defy the way the creator built you if you never had a grief or a grieving moment in your life Abraham mourned he wept for her verse 3 and Abraham rose up from his dead and said to the Hittites I am a soldier and a foreigner among you give me property among

among you for a burying place that I may bury my dead out of my sight now that term we're not going to really get into it but that bury my dead out of my sight a lot of times you know what we a lot of times we cremate the body and we keep them in urns you know close by you know the scripture he talks about keeping the body you know this I'm not going to get into the debate whether or not it's biblical or whatever you know okay the body what he's talking about is you don't keep it around he's

going to get it out of my sight there's a time to mourn but I'm going to get the dead out of my sight okay bury a bury a place out of my sight where was I again oh yeah the Hittites answered Abraham hear us my lord you are a prince of God among us

I'm going to get him there's a lady who is a lady when she comes to a me young boy and I'm going to get a 산 on your face and I can't wait to get all of my eyes

Abraham did he moved from Ur of the Chaldeans okay he's now in Canaan okay and it would be typical if you had a loved one that passed away what you would do is you would take that loved one back to your homeland okay you wouldn't bury them in a foreign land okay you would take them back home and you would bury them there okay the fact that Abraham does not want to do that indicates that he is believing the promises of God that this is the land that he is in is the promised land

he doesn't own an acre of it yet but he is believing that this is the promised land not only for Abraham and Sarah but for all of his descendants okay it indicates that this is his new home and he is willing to take some property here and bury bury somebody in it as as if to put a stake in it okay I got a stake in this indicating he's believing the promises of God I'm not taking my wife back home

and what in verse three is a beautiful phrase when he says it rose up he rose up from before his dead all right several commentators on this if you read on this say that it indicates a change all right it's a it's a it's a new piece turning a new corner in the grieving process that's what that's what this means okay it indicates the commentator says the squaring of the shoulders

um the firming of the firming of your step and the firming of your step and the lifting of the eyes and the desire to move on all right in other words the time to mourn the time to weep is over and it's time to move on that's that's what this is saying in in uh the hebrews the hebrews when they mourn they would mourn for thirty days thirty days that's that's crazy isn't it thirty days

Now, we might have a time where we're mourning or we have a funeral

and maybe there's a few days that we mourn or maybe there's a few weeks.

But they purposely mourn 30 days.

The Egyptians mourn for 70 days.

70 days.

And as a matter of fact, by the time you get to the New Testament,

some of the Hebrews, when they mourned,

I mean, they would tear their clothes, they would throw dirt in the air,

and they would also hire professional mourners.

No, this is true.

They would hire a professional so that when you got tired of mourning,

if their mourning process still needed to take place,

you would hire a professional mourner so that when people walked by your house,

there would be people outside going,

Oh!

It sounds goofy to us.

I understand that.

But they wanted their emotions to be loud and expressed to the community,

I am still mourning.

Even though I don't have the energy for it anymore,

I am still,

my family is still mourning.

So he stood up from before his dead.

He's going to do something.

He's going to be proactive right now.

Okay?

And I think this is very healthy.

There was a saying we used to say when we were younger.

There was a slang saying.

If you ever watched Charlie Brown,

you knew the slang.

The slang, it would be like,

he would always say,

Good grief, Charlie Brown.

Good grief, right?

You know what I've come to find out?

Grief is good.

Grief is good.

There's a cleansing in grief.

There is something healthy about grief.

But prolonged grief is not good.

There comes a point in time

where you have to set your shoulders.

You have to take steps.

And Abraham does something.

He selects a burial plot for his wife.

And he begins to put her in the ground.

He's moving on.

Because in chapter 24,

he's going to find a wife for Isaac.

Chapter 25,

he's going to get married again.

What?

He's 137 years old.

He's going on number two?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

He's going to live to be 175,

I think it is.

Why not?

I don't want to be alone.

I still got some time in me.

Bring him on.

Bring on another one, okay?

But he's not thinking about that yet, okay?

He's thinking about what needs to be done.

And he indicates he's moving on

in a healthy way.

Also notice something in verse 4.

He says that I am a sojourner,

a foreigner among you.

Of course he means,

you know,

I've been living in tents,

you know,

all this.

I don't own any real estate.

And...

And...

I'm a sojourner.

I'm a pilgrim here, okay?

Hebrews 11.10 makes a big deal out of this.

And Hebrews 11.10 says that Abraham was looking forward to the city that has foundations,

whose designer and builder is God.

He was always thinking and moving heavenward, thinking about that.

God had promised him this land, but he's moving toward heaven.

And this is good language.

I'm a foreigner.

I'm just a visitor among you.

This is what Paul's talking about in 1 Thessalonians 4.

When he talks about Jesus coming back, he says,

I write this to you, lest you sorrow like those who have no hope.

Who have no hope.

The reason why we sorrow, and he sorrows here, but we sorrow differently.

It's a hopeful sorrow.

We get that.

We understand that.

It's because we know that our loved ones, if they know Jesus Christ,

the moment that they die, we know that they're exactly in the presence of the Lord.

And we rejoice in that.

We can rejoice in that.

So we do sorrow, but we don't sorrow like those with no hope.

So his wife is dead.

He said, 127 years old.

This is the coronation day.

He's a foreigner.

He's a pilgrim.

And it says that the Hittites answered Abraham,

Hear us, my Lord, you are a prince of God among us.

They know that he's a prophet of God, but they see, even these pagan people,

these people who do not know or fear God, see God's hand on Abraham.

What a testimony that would be for each of us.

I just see God's hand on her.

I see God's hand on him.

May that be the testimony of our lives and the testimony of our hearts.

Now, watch this.

This is a very long account of a real estate transaction.

Verse 7,

And Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land.

He's showing honor.

He's showing respect here in this situation.

And they said to him,

If you are willing,

And he said to them,

If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight,

again he says that,

Hear me and treat me from Ephraim, the son of Zoar,

that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns.

It is at the end of his field for the full price,

and let him give it to me in your presence as property for a burying place.

And so they're saying,

Look, just bury your wife.

Go ahead and bury her.

And he says,

You can have the place.

You can have the grave.

And he says,

No, no, no.

I want to buy some land.

I want to purchase the land.

Now, why does he want to buy the land?

Again, he's indicating that he believes in the promises of God,

that this is the land that's going to be for me and my family.

He's just kind of been a Bedouin kind of traveler,

a tent dweller at this point.

But he wants to buy some anchorage that he wants to live in.

He wants to die in.

He wants to get buried in.

And that his family will eventually possess,

according to the promises of God.

Verse 10,

Again, the gate of the city is where all the business is done.

That's where all the transactions were done.

Okay?

No, my Lord, hear me.

I give you the field,

and I give you the cave that is in it.

In the sight of the sons of my people,

I will give it to you.

Bury your dead.

Then Abraham bowed,

again showing respect,

before the people of the land.

And he said to Ephraim in the hearing of the people of the land,

But if you will hear me,

I give the price of the field,

accept it from me,

that I may bury my dead there.

Ephraim answered Abraham,

My Lord, listen to me.

A piece of land worth 400 shekels of silver.

What's that between you and me?

Bury your dead.

Abraham listened to Ephraim,

and Abraham weighed out for Ephraim

the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites,

400 shekels of silver,

according to the weights current among the merchants.

Now, to our ears,

it kind of sounds like a polite conversation.

But you should know that this is a typical Middle Eastern transaction

where they're trying to out-courtesy each other.

They're trying to go through this.

The owner of the land,

he really has no intention on giving it to him.

But he says,

No, bury your dead.

In the...

that's an exorbitant price

every ancient historian will say

every commentator will say that 400 shekels is huge

because King David much much later

he is going to pay for an eighth of that price

he's going to acquire the threshing floor of Arana

the whole top of Mount Moriah

he gets the whole top for 50 shekels

that's it 50 shekels

and so he pays an exorbitant price

Abraham is willing to 400 shekels

for this little piece of land that has a cave in it

so when he says look I'll just give it to you

the ancient Hittite tradition was to offer it

offer it just for free

but to expect some sort of gift or gifts in exchange

especially from Abraham

because they knew that he was a wealthy man

so it's not like he's just trying to give it away

he's expecting something in return

he makes the exorbitant announcement of 400 shekels

and he's probably thinking that Abraham's going to come back with either

well I'll give you 200 or I'll give you 100

we're going to barter you know back and forth

and just a little bit of insight

things haven't changed that much today

if you were to go over to Israel

and you were to go to Jerusalem

and you were to be a tourist

and you were to walk in a shop over there

with the people in Jerusalem

the Israelite people over there

and you were to walk in and say

hey how much is this

and they throw a price out at you

you don't say oh okay

no they expect you to bargain with them

to barter back

they're looking for naive Americans

who'll just say

oh okay I'll pay that

you know

to pay this exorbitant price

that still goes on today

verse 14

I know I read it

but I want to read it again

Ephraim answered Abraham

my lord listen to me

a piece of land worth 400 shekels of silver

what is that between you and me

bury your dead

Abraham listened to Ephraim

and Abraham weighed out for Ephraim

the silver that he had named

in the hearing of the Hittites

400 shekels of silver

according to the weights

of the current merchants

so the field of Ephraim

in Machpelah

was in the east of Mamre

in the field of the cave

that it was in

the land

all the trees that were in the field

throughout the whole area

was made over to Abraham

as a possession

in the presence of the Hittites

before all who went

in the gate of the city

so

something else we need to understand

to give us a little bit more

insight

according to the Hittite law

it was frowned upon

for you to sell your land

to any foreigner

you just didn't do it

and so

Abraham is obviously

considered a foreigner

and he's settled in this land

but he's

he's

again

he's been moving around

he's kind of like a

Bedouin tent

you know

dweller

going from place to place

and

and he's from Ur

he's not from the land of Canaan

you know

he's considered a foreigner

and they

they didn't want to sell it to him

but he's basically saying

I'm not going anywhere

this is

this is my

this is

this is my home

I'm going to stay here

and they're basically saying

well because it's your wife

we'll sell you something

maybe they feel sorry for him

but they obviously

see God's hand on it

but also again

according to the Hittite law

if you owned

the land

let's say

let's say you owned

a large section

of

of

of real estate

and you were going to sell off

just a small portion

of that large section

you would still be responsible

for the taxes

for the whole thing

even if you sold a little piece

of that property off

alright

so

but if you were

if you were able to sell

the whole thing

the whole parcel

then all the taxes

belong to the new owner

so that gives us

a little bit of insight

why he's asking

this exorbitant price

for this small piece

of land

you know

he's thinking

you know what

if I can get 400 shekels

I still got to pay

all the taxes

man that's going to

cover the whole taxes

for the whole thing

Abraham shells it out

shells it out

so it's called

the cave of

Machpelah

and if you were

go to Hebron

today

you could see

the burial place

of Abraham

it is authentic

we do know about it

it's noted

it's documented

and 2,000 years later

it's still there

even though

Herod the Great

built a temple

in Jerusalem

we know where

that cave is

we know where

Abraham is buried

after this

Abraham buried

Sarah his wife

verse 19

in the cave

on the field

of Machpelah

east of Mamre

that is Hebron

in the land of Canaan

the field

in the cave

he wrote

in the cave

앙

later on Abraham's going to be put in it Isaac's going to be buried in it Rebecca's going to be buried in it Jacob is going to be buried in it Leah is going to be buried in it by the time we get to the end of Genesis it's going to have all the family now Rachel I didn't mention Rachel Rachel is buried somewhere else she's buried it by Jerusalem and we know where that burial plot is today it's invisible even today but by the time we get to the end of Genesis which may which may be 2020 as we're

we're studying Genesis okay the whole cave is going to be full the field in the cave that were in it were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place for the Hittites so I've been praying this past week how do I end this sermon this joyous sermon of death death death death death you know and I just I want to give you five things five little takeaways just for you to deal with this whole thing about

death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death death

11th we stood in the adoption for our baby girl was final and i now i thought i was finished with

the whole raising children thing you know i got a daughter's gonna be 24 in july and i have a two

year old and i will be 60 that's right 60 in july and i'm doing the math and i'm like i'm running

out of fingers and toes in time and so there's a there's a reality to that but i want to see her

do that i want to see so you begin to think about these things so let me just give you some things

that i see from the scripture and i see that that that i believe the lord speak to us it would help

us in this number one learn to get comfortable with the idea of death because that's where you're

going and all god's people people didn't start that's where revival broke out in church pastor

told me i'm gonna die well i had the most uplifting message today you know you and i are marching

down that road unless jesus comes back praise praise the lord rapture your church today take us home

now okay i don't if i don't see i'm happy about that i would love for caitlin to see some things

and do less of life to last longer but if it doesn't too bad i'm ready

but we get used to get used to that get used to that you know everyone in this room will kick the

proverbial bucket at some point it's going to happen okay it's going to happen you know

it is appointed unto man that we will all die once there you go all right you know i remember years

ago uh billy graham was speaking at a college and billy graham the student stopped him and he said

mr graham what is the one thing that surprised you most about life he said it's brevity

it's just so fast it goes by so fast and young people i remember when i was your age i was like

man only old people say that maybe true but old people realize man it goes fast it just goes fast

second thing second thing i want you to uh um challenge you with today is get your house in

order get your house in order abraham did he got a burial plot for his family he took care of

business i'm going to get all this together i'm going to make sure that we're taken care of not

only for me but for my wife my children do you have a will so you're not preaching that in church

these days are they do you have do you have a get away do you have a trust do you have a living

trust are you providing okay are you making arrangements do that don't be foolish do you have

insurance do that you need some extra insurance talk to luann she has aflac there you go it's

different insurance i know but there you go there you go i'll put a plug in for you how about that

if you don't take care if you don't get your house in order somebody's going to have to do it for

you and that's usually your children your children

clear up strange as as best you can clear up those strained relationships I'm telling you in ministry I have seen so many times where I've come in and somebody has has has has received a devastating injury and it doesn't look good or they have been pronounced with something health wise and they're in a coma or something and and the people come in and they're so absolutely

broken because they break down because they break down because they remember the last things they said to that person a few years ago and now they realize that the time to reconcile has passed them by and the last thing I ever said to him the last thing I said to her was this is that really what you want as a child of God reconcile to you as to the best of your ability and that reconciliation as you get those relationships in order has nothing to do with their responsibility

in response to you you do what is right in the eyes of the Lord and love them unconditionally and no matter what comes back at you you do what is right in the eyes of the Lord get these relationships and clear up these relationships as best as you can number four get a good network of friendship friends around you get a good network individually you know if you are an individual that's a that's a

that's likes to isolate yourself and and you're a loner you know when somebody that you know or somebody that you love you know passes and you're isolated and that ain't good that ain't good it's not healthy it's not healthy for you it's not healthy on any level but but if you can develop now a good strong network of brothers and sisters who will who will walk with you who will strengthen you who will

encourage you who will encourage you who will give you a place to fall back how many of you know we all need a fallback yes we talked it we talked at our elders retreat this this past this past weekend and we we all look in and out Tom Tom comes out and he says man this is my inner circle these are my bra I know I can pick up the phone anytime any day I can call these men and it would drop everything to be there for me for my

my family you need that you need that get a network together well I don't know who to turn to you know what we can practice right now if you want to I can have you turn to a stranger right now and say hi I'm so and so I need you as a fallback I won't do that because we have some people visiting you be like this is a freaky church man but why not start within the walls of the security of the body of Christ I need a fallback I need somebody who will walk with me

I need someone who will walk with me

and most importantly make sure that you get spiritually prepared

oh he's going to do that isn't he yeah I'm a pastor I'm going to do that are you ready to meet your maker

bottom line if if if you if you were to go to meet Jesus if you were to pass away would you meet Jesus tonight

I can't answer that for you I can't answer that for you you have to answer that for yourself you know I

remember when I was a little kid you know you think about things afterwards the things you do with kids how

the how weird and goofy they are ring around the rosie pocket full of posies ashes as well that's about what the

um the plague yeah the plague and we're doing oh it's fine yeah ashes ashes we're all dead

and here we go here's the one though now I lay me you know now I lay me down to sleep

I pray the Lord my soul to keep okay if I die before I wake what I pray the Lord my soul to

take and you say that did you say that as a kid I mean I said that as a kid I didn't even know what

I was saying I pray the Lord my soul and Jesus up there going really really you know what if what

what if you closed your

what if you closed your

eyes tonight and that was the last time you closed your eyes this side of eternity do you know that you know that you know you would be in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ and the only way to know that is to trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ he's he's done it all he's done it all

just receive him just receive him that that's that's that's it

you know I I was shown a photograph years ago it was a cemetery somewhere up on the east coast and on the cemetery I had on the tombstone had this caption I thought it was kind of funny the guy showed me the picture in it and on this tombstone it said this

pause stranger as you pass me by as you are now so once was I as I am now so you will be so prepare for death and follow me

that's pretty profound you know he writes that then there pause strangers you pass me by as you are now so once was I as I am now so you will be so prepare for death and follow me

I mean we're all gonna travel that road but then I I also heard the story that somebody who was up at that cemetery made a makeshift sign on that and they they taped it and pound kind of pounded it to the ground next to the tombstone and the makeshift sign said to follow you I'm not content until I know which way you went

I like that I like that I like him even more I I'm not I'm not gonna follow you until I know which way you went hey amen amen

you know I I just know that we don't talk enough about loss a lot of times and loss is a part of life

it's a hard part of life some of you know that some of you it's still very tender in your heart and in your life some of you you're come to you're going to come to know it

sooner and more than you want to know it I'm not I'm not up here trying to give you a gloom and doom thing I'm just saying there's some things that we could should and need to be doing to make sure that our hearts

and our lives prepared is it appointed unto every man that you we will pass from this life it's an appointment that all of us are going to keep some of you

aren't really good at keeping your appointments and you're always late you will never be late to that appointment you will be right on time

Moses said in Psalm 90 to teach us to number our days that we might have wisdom of heart

and that wisdom of heart gives us a desire to make sure that we are spiritually prepared

to be in the presence of the Lord knowing that we are acquitted of our sins we are acquitted of all of our wrongdoings

and knowing that God has brought us into his presence and we will enjoy him forever that's the beautiful part of it

that's the that's the beautiful part of it and I know maybe some of you are like well oh no I don't want to talk about that I don't want to deal with that

because I'm going to live to be 127 like Sarah I'm not I'll tell you that right now I'm not I pray not I mean

so it really does it behooves us it behooves us to act while we can with what we know

act while you can with what you know are you are you spiritually are you spiritually prepared to receive

you know knowing that in that preparation that God provides a covering

for us through Jesus Christ

and I'm going to ask the worship team come on up this morning we'll close this morning but

I would absolutely I'll stay here for the next three hours if I have to

just to just to walk with you but if there's someone here today that just really

has never really made that confession of faith

I would let it's it's more than just the raising of a hand and reciting a prayer

that's just the beginning

I would love to talk to you about what it means to be to be to follow the Lord Jesus Christ

to be discipled

today be the day that you let the opportunity go by to trust in the Lord trust in the Lord and some of us need to look at some of the five things that I gave you and and we need to we need to take care of some things in our household we need to take care of some things in some relationships around us do those things do those things as the Lord leads you not as I lead you as the Lord leads you

on top of that end of this month we have our fifth Sunday celebration and we have eight baptisms that will be taking place on that Sunday praise alleluia eight baptisms God is good

God is good

and you know we got room for eight more so if you have never walked in believers baptism you'd like to talk about it

please please reach out to me reach out to me so excited about that so excited about that

on the 31st also we're going to have a special treat for you as well too that's our that's our fifth Sunday family celebration the kids can stay in here every fifth Sunday and we just have a shorter service but we just have a real family celebration in here but then we also got some shrimp and grits and bacon and sausage and we'll have a show we'll have a grits bar next door for you guys to come bring your appetites you'll probably just bring some desserts or something to go whatever goes with I don't know what dessert goes with grits but you'll you'll figure out something

we'll eat it we'll eat it whatever you bring there you go yeah there you go but we're gonna have some food and just just a time and just fellowship just a time and just to love on each other just to love on each other so may the peace of God rest in your heart rest in your life may the love of God be the very thing that draws you

and gives you and gives you and gives you that desire to be known by him

father thank you for the comfort that only you can bring in our hearts and our lives and we give you thanks and praise this day in Jesus sweet holy name and all of God's people said today amen let's stand and give God praise this morning

amen

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .