00:00:00.000 - 00:00:34.960

We come to this altar this morning to bow down here, praising you for just being God. Thank you for your goodness and for allowing us the privilege of rising to be a brand new God. Come together here as believers, honestly seeking truth and humbly praying that you will guide our hearts in the mission.

00:00:34.960 - 00:00:59.420

Holy God, because you make all things new, we bring to you in prayer concerns for the well-being of those who need it most. You are the one who comforts and guides us in the midst of every storm. And we ask that you look upon the sick, the grieving, those who are waiting for a miracle of healing or relief

00:00:59.420 - 00:01:13.940

from suffering. And especially, do we pray for those caregivers, givers who stand beside them in their pain. Lord, you're greater than any power in this earth.

00:01:13.940 - 00:01:30.260

Let us be still and know that you're God who answers out of the whirlwind. Holy God, we pray for those who are lost and can't find their way. We know that you're in the business of changing people's lives.

00:01:30.260 - 00:01:49.340

And even as we pray for those who are outside the arc of safety, we confess that we too have done things that are not pleasing in your sight. We have had wrong thoughts and selfish motives. Forgive us, we pray, and take away our sins.

00:01:49.340 - 00:02:07.740

as far as the East is concerned. Lord, this world is in debt to you. We need your wisdom to live in peace with one another. We know that there is no problem or situation greater than you.

00:02:07.740 - 00:02:21.180

Every battle is in your hands for you to fight. And merciful Lord, we pray for those who have suffered loss beyond our comprehension. We call upon your mighty power of restoration and healing

00:02:21.180 - 00:02:32.980

for those who stand helpless in the face of their circumstances. Eternal God, we ask that you continue to use us here at Ebenezer to do your will.

00:02:32.980 - 00:02:45.740

Help us be kind and loving toward one another. Surround our pastor with your peace. Lord, bless your servant. You have called to speak to our hearts

00:02:45.740 - 00:03:03.860

this morning because we know that preaching the word is both a privilege and an awesome responsibility. Lord, we just delight in the glory of your presence. Let your showers of blessings fall on us, that by your grace we may be courageous and

00:03:03.860 - 00:03:23.260

bear good fruit. Thank you for our hope in Jesus Christ our Lord, one with God and the Holy Spirit, and In his name we pray, amen. ♪ Jesus, I must tell Jesus ♪

00:03:23.260 - 00:03:41.440

♪ My head are standing ♪ ♪ Where is the Lord ♪ ♪ I must tell Jesus ♪ ♪ I must tell Jesus ♪

00:03:41.440 - 00:03:58.520

♪ Jesus, hear that I am free ♪ ♪ He's found the Lord ♪ (soft music) [Music]

00:03:58.520 - 00:04:57.920

[Music] [music] [Music] Welcome, Holy Spirit. We are in your presence. Fill us with your power. Live inside of me.

00:04:57.920 - 00:05:22.920

Welcome, Holy Spirit. We are in your presence. Fill us with your power. Live inside of me.

00:05:24.920 - 00:05:50.260

♪ In the living water ♪ ♪ Never dying from sin ♪ ♪ God was not in control ♪ ♪ Take complete control ♪

00:05:52.060 - 00:06:16.060

Welcome Holy Spirit We are in your presence Fill us with your power Live inside of me

00:06:18.060 - 00:07:46.060

[Music] [Music] [End credit music] [Music]

00:07:46.060 - 00:08:37.020

[ Music ] Praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise Him. Jesus, blessed Savior, is worthy to be praised. Sing it again.

00:08:37.020 - 00:08:45.020

Praise Him! Praise Him! Praise Him! Praise Him!

00:08:45.020 - 00:08:53.020

Praise Him! Praise Him! Praise Him! For He's Jesus!

00:08:53.020 - 00:09:05.020

Jesus! Blessed Savior! He's worthy to be praised! He's worthy to be praised!

00:09:05.020 - 00:09:25.440

[Music] ♪ From the rising of the sun ♪ ♪ Until the going down of the day ♪ ♪ He's worthy ♪

00:09:25.440 - 00:09:44.120

♪ He's so worthy ♪ ♪ He's worthy to be praised ♪ ♪ So just praise Him ♪ ♪ Praise Him ♪

00:09:44.120 - 00:10:04.300

♪ Praise Him ♪ ♪ Praise Him ♪ ♪ Jesus, blessed Savior ♪ ♪ He's worthy to be praised ♪

00:10:04.300 - 00:10:38.300

[music] For God is a rock, he's hope of salvation. He's a strong, strong deliverer, and Him will be always strong. Praise Him!

00:10:38.300 - 00:11:03.300

Praise Him! Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus says He's Savior, He's worthy to be praised.

00:11:03.300 - 00:11:27.640

[music] ♪ Praise Him, oh praise Him ♪ ♪ Praise Him, praise Him ♪ ♪ Jesus, the Savior ♪

00:11:27.640 - 00:11:56.880

♪ He's worthy to be praised ♪ ♪ Jesus, blessed Savior ♪ ♪ Is worthy to be praised ♪ (crowd murmuring)

00:11:56.880 - 00:12:24.880

[Music] Greetings. Greetings. What a blessed privilege, one more time, to stand with such an awesome task and deliver God's Word.

00:12:24.880 - 00:12:45.440

Would you pray with me please? Lord God in the precious name of Jesus, right now I stand before you, needing you like I have never needed you before. Praying that you will empty me of anything that even resembles Corvette.

00:12:45.440 - 00:13:11.240

I want, oh Lord, only to preach your word. So I ask right now that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart will be acceptable to you and that truly only you will be the speaker and that you will, each person will be here knowing without a shadow of a doubt that you have preached this word.

00:13:11.240 - 00:13:38.960

Thank you for what you will do and thank you for what you've already done. In Jesus' name, amen. Who do you worship, Baal or God? Our scripture this morning comes from Jeremiah the second chapter verse 13. My people have committed two sins. They have

00:13:38.960 - 00:14:13.560

forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water." Jeremiah is the prophet who writes this word. Jeremiah was called, the scripture says before he was in his mother's womb. He was called out of his mother's womb as a very,

00:14:13.560 - 00:14:42.380

very young child. Very young, he said, "I won't know what to say." And God said to him, "Don't tell me you won't know what to say. I'll tell you what to say." So he touched his son. Jeremiah preached over 50 years. He preached over 50 years. He preached over He preached against kings who refused to follow God.

00:14:42.380 - 00:15:03.380

He preached with the threat of danger to his life. He preached an unpopular sermon. He preached when so many prophets preached a very different message. Can you imagine all the prophets are telling the people

00:15:03.380 - 00:15:19.020

that what Jeremiah is saying is wrong. Life for Jeremiah, I'm sure, was somewhat like life for Obama right now. Difficult. On every hand.

00:15:19.020 - 00:15:46.060

Not knowing exactly when somebody might just take him out. Because he was truly an unpopular prophet. He did not have a word at that time that the people wanted to hear. They wanted to hear the lies of those who called themselves prophets

00:15:46.060 - 00:16:12.760

because those people told them what they wanted to hear. As a minister, we don't have the privilege of telling you what you want to hear. So I'm not here this morning to tickle your ears or whatever else maybe you came for. This will not be a popular sermon.

00:16:12.760 - 00:16:34.920

I ran from it all week long. I picked out three other topics and finally I said, "Lord, have thine own way. I'm not going to miss my blessings out of disobedience." This morning's sermon, I think all of mine are, it's a very simple test.

00:16:34.920 - 00:17:00.880

It's a litmus test. It's a test that only each one of you can take personally. is not a group test. There won't be a bell curb at the end. My prayer is that when this sermon is over that you will have examined your heart. This is a

00:17:00.880 - 00:17:39.380

self-examination sermon. This one is only one you can answer. Have you done what the people of Judah and Jerusalem or Israel have done? Have you forsaken God? Have you hewed out your own broken cisterns? That was difficult for me because I remember well Dr. Griffin preaching on broken cisterns and I said

00:17:39.380 - 00:18:12.720

"Oh my gosh, I'm gonna have to come behind Dr. Griffin and preach on broken systems." Yes. In Israel's history, we know the history, we know how God brought them out of Egypt, mothered them, cared for them. The scripture says their shoes didn't even wear out, their clothes didn't wear out. 40 years of rearing them because that's what was

00:18:12.720 - 00:18:37.800

happening in the desert. In the desert after he brought them up out of Egypt he said I have to be a good father. They have been enslaved for over 400 years they don't know which way to go so the best thing for me to do is rear them trained them in the way of the Lord so that they will come to know me as a

00:18:37.800 - 00:19:12.600

compassionate, loving, caring father. So during that 40 years as they meandered some of them died as they grew up in the desert he reared them, he drew them to him. He showed himself faithful. He showed himself loving. He showed himself dependable. He showed himself trustworthy. The scripture says oftentimes that they

00:19:12.600 - 00:19:49.920

even called him husband. Husband. One who you can depend on. One that you know will see you through but in today's scripture he has a complaint against them he says that they have forsaken me and that they have turned to creating their own broken cisterns now that's real simple so I'm not going to try to make this difficult

00:19:49.920 - 00:20:12.920

What had actually happened is the people had totally decided to turn their back on God. They didn't have any more time for him. They didn't want to follow his ten commandments. One of the first commandments says what?

00:20:12.920 - 00:20:35.920

I honor the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength. Honor him, worship him. But the scripture says that they looked at their neighbors and they chose not to worship Jehovah God.

00:20:35.920 - 00:21:05.920

That they chose to worship Baal. They chose to go into the temples and involve themselves with prostitutes. They chose to take wood and sculptor idols that they could bow down and worship. They chose to burn incense on altars made by hand.

00:21:05.920 - 00:21:33.920

They chose to even destroy their own children. They chose to forsake the teachings of God. They chose to break their covenant. They chose to break the covenant with God, Jehovah.

00:21:33.920 - 00:21:56.420

They chose to reject the Ten Commandments. Now, why preach that wonderful story? Because my question is very simple. Have you divorced God?

00:21:56.420 - 00:22:26.720

Is there evidence in your life that shows that you are still happily married to God? Is there evidence in your life where others, where you can say that he is husband? that you turn to Him in every situation, that you trust Him in every situation,

00:22:26.720 - 00:22:44.620

that you are faithful in Janice's prayer. She said this morning that we serve a God who is able to see us through our brokenness, who is able to fix what doctors cannot even discern.

00:22:44.620 - 00:22:59.020

I asked you this morning, I told you this was a self-examination test. There's no bell curve. We're not going to average the score and add points so that everybody can pass.

00:22:59.020 - 00:23:26.420

This is a sermon where you have to decide within your heart, is God, God of your life, or are you serving Bell? Sometimes things happen in our lives slowly. We inch away from God, Jehovah, slowly.

00:23:26.420 - 00:23:46.980

Sometimes we don't even intend to. I am extremely weight conscious, so I'm going to ask you to forgive me with the next example. I'm so tall, and since I am so tall, I am, and I'm very serious, I am extremely weight conscious.

00:23:46.980 - 00:24:07.020

Four-seven doesn't give you a lot of room, okay? So I don't have the privilege of eating everything I want to eat. But there are times I just slip away. And I thought last Sunday my girlfriend baked a strawberry cake.

00:24:07.020 - 00:24:24.380

I took a piece home, and I'm not exaggerating, it was that big. I sat down Tuesday night and I ate the entire piece. [applause] The whole thing.

00:24:24.380 - 00:24:37.580

[applause] And it was good. [applause] But you know, that's how we inch away from God.

00:24:37.580 - 00:25:00.920

one big piece, sometimes one little piece consistently. And we wake up one day and that skirt won't even go on, much less over the hips. We wake up one day, and I'm gonna get real serious,

00:25:00.920 - 00:25:26.660

and we wonder, where is God? We wonder where has he gone? We wonder why he isn't answering our prayer. We wonder why things on our job aren't working out,

00:25:26.660 - 00:25:42.660

why our children are disobedient. We wonder why things don't come together. And it's because we took little baby steps away from it. Slowly but surely we just moved away from it.

00:25:42.660 - 00:26:01.660

I'm not going to give my tithe this much. I'm going to get back, as a matter of fact I'm going to catch up. And really and truly we are sincere so we think. And a year later we have stopped tithing.

00:26:01.660 - 00:26:32.660

I'm going to start Sunday school next month, next month, next month, next month. I'm going to the nursing home with the Missionary Society next month, next month, next month. I'm going to read the scripture, let's make it real personal, at least twice a day. But I always forget to set the alarm clock 30 minutes early.

00:26:32.660 - 00:26:59.860

So I just don't have the time. You understand, don't you? You understand? I work so hard I'm just too tired to pray. I know what I'm going to do. I'm going to quickly say a word of thanksgiving. I'm gonna quickly ask him for his blessings. I'm going quickly before we

00:26:59.860 - 00:27:34.860

know it we're sound asleep and we have not prayed we've not taken we wake up one day and we're so far away from God Jeremiah said it was apostasy Jeremiah said God said they have forsaken me they don't even know me anymore in the pardon of their sin. He says in his word he asked the people he

00:27:34.860 - 00:28:06.380

said where have you gone don't you know that I am the light of the world? When he met the woman at the well he said I can tell you all about yourself you don't I know that you, the man that you live with is not your husband, but the water that I give you, the woman, the water that comes out of my cisterns is water that will give you life eternal.

00:28:06.380 - 00:28:49.620

Water out of my cisterns, which are perfect. My cisterns don't leach. My cisterns don't break. My cisterns will not leave you thirsty. My cisterns will provide you with the source of water that can spring up into eternal salvation forever and forever. Come all ye that thirst, come to the water and you who have no money,

00:28:49.620 - 00:29:36.740

come, buy without cost. He said unto me, it is done, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To those of you who are thirsty I give you drink once again without water. The cost that springs up unto living life. He who will in heaven all of this I will be his God and he will be my son or my daughter but

00:29:36.740 - 00:30:11.220

the cowardly the unbelieving the vile the murderers the sexual immoral those who practice magical art the idolatrous and all liars have their place in the fiery lake of hell. I want to stop and go back to Jeremiah and to the people of Israel because it is true and it's good that is true that when they had been

00:30:11.220 - 00:30:36.100

placed in exile, they were in exile for a long time. The false prophets told them it's only going to last about seven years, you'll be out of exile and then you'll be able to come on back in. But the Word of God says when they went into exile the last group, the Babylonians, came into

00:30:36.100 - 00:31:02.620

Jerusalem and so destroyed the city. They burned and destroyed the interior and the exterior wall and the temple. They destroyed the wall so that when the generation that was sent back in, they had to literally rebuild from the inside out.

00:31:02.620 - 00:31:36.260

So when we, like the people of Israel, disobey God and forsake him, and we are no longer a part of his family, but yet there comes a time, this is the good news of the sermon, but yet there comes a time when we want him, we want to obey him, we want to keep his commandments, he has to rebuild us. Now if

00:31:36.260 - 00:32:08.140

you don't hear any other part of the sermon, this is the part I want you to get. If the litmus test that you took this morning says that you have forsaken God and that you are no longer his child but today you are coming, you are here because you want him as your Lord and Savior, there has to be a rebuilding. When

00:32:08.140 - 00:32:29.620

When I was practicing this sermon on a dear friend of mine, I was at first going to talk about how many churches we have in America today. And I'm so glad that I chose not to discuss that because it doesn't make any difference how many buildings we have.

00:32:29.620 - 00:32:48.540

The church is made up of us. This is the church. So if this temple isn't right with God, no church is going to be right with God. So it doesn't make any difference how many churches we have or how few churches we have.

00:32:48.540 - 00:33:09.580

This is the church of the living God. And if it's torn down, if it's separated from God, if it has rejected God, if it has divorced God, then He has to rebuild here. This is the internal church right here.

00:33:09.580 - 00:33:32.540

He has to build us up. Ebenezer is never going to be the church it could be until we become the sanctuary that we can be. So I say to each one of us that if you are torn down,

00:33:32.540 - 00:33:51.820

If you have rejected God, if you don't know him anymore in the pardon of your sin, you need to do a building job. How do I build up that interior wall? How do I build it up?

00:33:51.820 - 00:34:12.740

First thing, we have to release our will to God. We have to let go and let God. Too often, we want to do things our own way. The song says, "Have thine own way.

00:34:12.740 - 00:34:26.060

Have thine own way. Thou art the potter. I am the clay. Mold me and make me after thy will

00:34:26.060 - 00:34:49.160

while I am waiting, yield it and steal." So you're going to have to get steel and give this messed up temple to him and he will go to work building it up from the inside out.

00:34:49.160 - 00:35:08.080

He will build it up with... He can touch, He can touch, oh He can touch. He can touch in ways we can't even explain. He will lead you and guide you through His Word.

00:35:08.080 - 00:35:37.000

He will lead you and guide you through study. He will lead you and guide you in Sunday school, discipleship training, worship, songs, personal prayer, and meditation. You must get to know Him personally and intimately. And the only way you will

00:35:37.000 - 00:36:13.120

get to know God personally and intimately is spend one-on-one time with him one-on-one. He's faithful, he's trustworthy, and he will teach you, he will lead you, and he will guide you. In Timothy he says, "Study to show thyself self-approved. So you will have to study his words. If you don't feel capable of

00:36:13.120 - 00:36:45.480

studying on your own, Dr. Griffin is very capable. Kiera Janis is very capable. We are a very, very favored church. We have two Bible study and then we have Sunday school and discipleship training where study takes place so that the interior man can be developed into a strong exterior man. Now

00:36:45.480 - 00:37:12.980

Sister Carol tell me what so why do I need to develop? Well it's just like a a child. When a child comes into this world, you don't want that child to stay in your arms. Something would be mighty wrong. They grow, they develop. You start them with milk and usually it's with iron because that's needed for the growth of teeth, bone and development.

00:37:12.980 - 00:37:28.000

Then they move to that stuff in the Bible, we call it baby food. They usually hate it and we do too, but we say, "What do we have to eat it for?" to try to encourage them to eat it. Then they move to mash up stuff on the table.

00:37:28.000 - 00:37:43.200

Then we move on to beef and steak and whatever. With the Word of God, you start to experience, Paul talks about you have to start with what? Milk, and then the interior body as it grows,

00:37:43.200 - 00:38:02.140

and you get to know God, instead of moving away from Him, you're moving close to Him. And as you move closer to Him, He will open up through revelation more of His word, will, and way to you.

00:38:02.140 - 00:38:24.000

So you grow, and you grow, and you grow. And He promises never to leave us nor to forsake us. He is faithful. He didn't go anywhere when the Israelites chose to forsake him.

00:38:24.000 - 00:38:55.480

But he did keep his word. He said, "If you keep my covenant, I will be your God and you will be my people." But his people were covenant breakers. But being the loving, compassionate God that he is, long before the foundation of the earth was formed,

00:38:55.480 - 00:39:24.320

he sent Jesus. When we look in the New Testament, we wake up one day and there's a babe in the arm of Mary. And the word says that that babe's name, he should be called Jesus or Emmanuel, which interpreted means God with us.

00:39:24.320 - 00:39:46.740

We may forsake him, but sisters and brothers, I come to you with a word of encouragement this morning. regardless of what your self-examination test shows, regardless to how related or unrelated you are to God.

00:39:46.740 - 00:40:00.420

Jesus can make it right. We just celebrated his resurrection last Sunday. He lived. That's the good news I share with you this morning.

00:40:00.420 - 00:40:36.960

If you are not rightly related to Him, if you have broken the covenant that drew you to God at a very early age, and you feel like you have worshipped Baal and not God, but you want to recommit your life to a covenant keeping God. I extend to you this morning, Jesus.

00:40:36.960 - 00:40:57.320

He is the one who can reunite us to God. He is the one who can make it right. I want to say something very, very quickly. Please do not think, I'm talking to all of you,

00:40:57.320 - 00:41:18.720

that in your strength you can make it right with God. Even when the Israelites were allowed to go back into the city to rebuild, they had to have help. They had to have letters that gave them permission to travel across the land.

00:41:18.720 - 00:41:40.720

They had to have help with the equipment, with the bricks, with the this. They even established a situation that says, "While we build, some will watch and some will build. Some will build and some will watch." Because, but in the midst of all of that, God was at work.

00:41:40.720 - 00:42:10.020

So I say to you this morning, we have and we serve a covenant keeping God. If you have worshipped Baal, and some of you say, "She hasn't said very much about how we worship Baal." Well, we can worship Baal by worshipping the church that we belong to and not God. We could worship Baal by worshiping the pastor.

00:42:10.020 - 00:42:32.720

We can worship Baal by worshiping titles, the jobs we have, the friends we have, the whatever in life God has blessed us with in abundance. If we're not cheerful, that becomes our Baal, and we divorce ourselves from the true and the living God.

00:42:32.720 - 00:43:21.020

If your nickname has said "failed," you don't have to state it, because the price for your renewal and your being rightly related to God again has been paid in full. all you have to do is accept what Jesus Christ did for us on Calvary. All you have to do is turn and say, "Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart. In my heart.

00:43:21.020 - 00:43:50.520

Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart, in my heart. Oh, in my heart. Oh, in my heart. "Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart."

00:43:50.520 - 00:44:21.360

When the people came back to God, He was just like this. He's the same God today. His arms stay open wide to receive you wherever you are on the midnight scale. God bless you and God bless you. Amen.

00:44:21.360 - 00:44:48.360

[applause] [Sound of a door opening] The door of the church is open. That's the good news.

00:44:48.360 - 00:45:02.500

[Music] stands not. [music] [music]

00:45:02.500 - 00:45:36.500

♪ Just enough for a chance to play for us ♪ ♪ In my uncle's garden ♪ ♪ For a garden so golden ♪ [Music]

00:45:36.500 - 00:46:06.180

♪ Praise God, praise God ♪ ♪ Hear my outpouring cry ♪ ♪ While on earth the clouds are falling ♪ ♪ Do not dash me by ♪

00:46:06.180 - 00:46:31.640

[Music] ♪ I shall bless thee ♪ ♪ I shall sing to thee ♪ ♪ Here is heaven, here is earth ♪

00:46:31.640 - 00:46:56.700

♪ Heaven, I come to thee ♪ ♪ I'm falling ♪ ♪ Feel your nature ♪ ♪ 'Til my arms go dry ♪

00:46:56.700 - 00:47:17.640

♪ Water, now I'm going ♪ (music) [ Silence ]