Embracing God's Healing: Overcoming Sin Together

A bit of clapping a little bit or just standing there and just praising God with all of our hearts.

Welcome to the church! I have an announcement for the week of June. Today is Fellowship Sunday, and after church, we ask each and every one to stay and eat with us and fellowship.

On Wednesday night, we have the GME Ladies Bible Study and the meeting of the youth and small groups. We are still accepting donations of snacks, gift cards, cash, or purchased items for our campers. Camp begins July 3rd through the 7th, and we are still needing lots of water.

If you look in front of you in the pews, you'll find three cards. The yellow card is for first-time visitors, and we ask if you would please fill it out so we can get information about you and if you want the pastor to call you or talk to you. The blue card is your priority request card; if you have a prayer you want for someone or even for yourself, fill it out and we'll be sure and pray for you or whoever you want us to pray for. The green card is if you want to help in the church in any way; fill it out and Mark and Debbie will give you something to do. Because this is Fellowship Night, there will be no services tonight.

Our God measures men by the standard for He sees underneath every hour. He studies the heart, every thought and desire, for the eyes of the Lord are searching to and fro. We have no secrets that our God does not know. Our Father understands the outside, but God sees the heart. Our God does not judge by how tall we may stand or how much we possess; it goes far deeper than things.

It's funny, you know, the reason why Sean was running out of here crying was because we didn't start singing. Because literally, his entire life, he is used to when we get started to worship God, we worship Him in music. Sean ought to be like the tribute for all of us; just pay attention when he's talking and you talk at the same time because in the sermon he's going to be saying that amen. He's going to be doing something that he can teach us so much about how to not be inhibited in our worship and praise.

Even if sometimes that I wouldn't suggest this, don't run out crying because brother Bill got up to do the announcements. That's the only thing that baby just baby you shouldn't do. But remember that we are here to worship God and honor Him. With that truth of that song and what we're gonna sing, let's do some all-out worship, even if it means dancing a little bit or clapping a little bit or just standing there and just praising God with all of our hearts. Amen.

Let's all stand together and look up at the screens and sing this song.

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. When I feel afraid and I think I've lost my way, still you're there right beside me and nothing will I fear as long as you are near. Please be near me. And yet my heart forever is wandering, Jesus be my guide and hold me to your side. I love you too today. Nothing will I fear as long as you are near, please be near me. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

Heavenly sunlight flooding my soul with glory divine, I am rejoicing singing His praises, Jesus is mine. On that first walking in sunlight, all of my journey over the mountains through the deep veil, Jesus has said I'll never forsake thee, promise divine that never can fail. Heavenly sunlight flooding my soul with glory divine, hallelujah. Rejoicing singing His praises, Jesus is mine. Amen.

At this time, I need all the kids to come right up here to the front. We're gonna take it over for kids' time. It's been fun learning this live music again. We probably fought more in music practice this week than we fought in like years, and it was great. Are you enjoying the live music, everyone?

We're actually going to get some more instruments, I think, next week. Brother Bob has a birthday and Miss Helen has a birthday. Miss Helen is 29 again, and she got herself a car this week, so she feels very 29 right now. Happy birthday to you!

We have been talking about the Bee Man and the Ungodly Man. The Bee Man is blessed, and he meditates day and night in the law or in the word of God. He doesn't just read the word of God, but he stops and he thinks about what he's reading and what God is trying to tell him. The Ungodly Man is not so, but they are like something else.

To celebrate, let's get our birthday girl to stand and sing Happy Birthday to her. Everyone got ready to sing, and we decided to sing "I'm in right outright upright over here right." We all put our fingers up and sang the song together.

After singing, we talked about the Bee Man and the Ungodly Man and what they do. We learned that the Bee Man meditates and the Ungodly Man is not so. We ended with a round of applause for the birthday girl.

Do you ever feel like you're being pushed in a certain direction? The Bible talks about this in terms of chaff, which the wind drives away. We can see this in our own lives, too. We can be tempted to go along with what the world says is right, even if God says something different.

Let's look at an example. Is ice cream good? Most of us would say yes, because it makes us happy. But should we be happy in the morning? Probably not. So, even though ice cream makes us happy, it doesn't mean we should have it for breakfast.

The same is true for our lives. Not everything that feels right is right. We need to make sure we're getting the right sustenance to start our day off right. We need to be careful not to be blown away by the wind of the world.

Having a productive day starts with having breakfast. We can't always judge what is right and wrong based on what we think sounds good. We need something else to direct us into what is right and what is wrong. The ungodly man does whatever seems right at the time, but the blessed man will go to the scriptures and let them tell him what is right and wrong.

Even if it doesn't feel right at the time, the Bible tells us that we should not always go with our feelings. If we want to be blessed and have a happiness on the inside that no matter what's going on on the outside we can be happy, then we should let the Bible be our boss.

We should obey our parents when they tell us not to do something, even if it doesn't seem important at the time, because there is a reason why we are told to obey. Jesus will judge us at the end of time, so it is better to do what Jesus tells us to do now, rather than spend our life doing what feels right only to have Jesus tell us we messed up.

We should all listen to and follow Jesus, not just kids. The way He is the only one that can show us the way, so follow Him. If you're here today and you know Christ is your Savior, you followed Him enough to follow that process; now it's about going the next step and following Jesus for the rest of your life. The rest of this life just continuing to let Jesus lead because He is worthy to follow.

Let's all stand together, look up at the screens, and let's worship Jesus a little bit.

I worship you, you are here working in this place. I worship you, you are here moving in. I worship you, you are here working in this place. I worship you, you are here touching every heart. I worship you, you are here healing every heart. I worship you, you are here turning lives around. I worship you, you are here mending every heart. I worship you, cause you are way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness my God, that is who you are.

Cause you are way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness my God, that is who you are. Thank you, you are here touching every heart. I worship you, I worship you, cause you are way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness my God, that is who you are.

I see it, you're working even when I don't feel that you're working. You never stop, you never stop working. You never stop, you never stop working even when I don't see it. You're working even when I don't feel it, you're working. You never stop, you never stop working. You never stop, you never stop working.

Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness my God, that is who you are. That is who you are, that is who you are, that is who you are, that is who you are, that is who you are, that is who you are.

He is worthy because He created the way where there seemed to be no way. He's worthy because when all hope was lost, when a God-sized problem entered our world, our sin, He didn't cause it, but it was a problem. And when we had no hope, He came to this world, became worthy, living a sinless life made Him worthy to not have to pay for His own sin, which was death, but yet He still died.

It was through that death that He made a way for every single one of us sinners because He is worthy. And so when you sing today and lift up your voices to God, you lift it up not only because He created us, although that was awesome, not only because He gave us all things, every good and every perfect gift cometh from above, but also because when we had no hope, when death and hell was our future because of our choices, He is worthy to receive glory, glory and honor, glory and others.

Out of His great love that He loved us, He died for us. He commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, while we were yet imperfect, while we were yet in bondage, while we were yet destined to eternal torments, Christ died for us. And because of that, He is worthy of praise. Worthy of all the glad songs we can sing, worthy of all of the offerings, worthy and the answer of worship and praise.

Our gracious Heavenly Father, we come to you today knowing that you are worthy. You're worthy of this time. This isn't a time that we even give to you. You're worthy of much more than this time. It's just the best that we can do. It's the Lord's day. It's the day that we recognize you in our lives. It's the day that we set aside. We've made it a sacred day in which we come together to worship and praise you and learn from you.

So Lord, I pray that you'll superintend over this entire service. Lord, as we have prepared our hearts maybe the best that we can to elevate our minds and our attention away from the stuff going on in this world and elevate it into the eternal. Lord, I pray that you will speak to us as those who have your attention on. We love you, we thank you for loving us. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

In Judges 16, we read of a life fail that could have been avoided. Out of His great love for us, Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners, imperfect, in bondage, and destined to eternal torments. Because of this, He is worthy of all our praise, songs, offerings, and worship. On this Lord's day, we come together to recognize and honor Him. We prepare our hearts to elevate our minds and attention away from the world and into the eternal. We pray that God will speak to us and that we will have His full attention. We love Him and thank Him for His love for us in Jesus' name. Amen.

Samson and Delilah are two characters from the Book of Judges. Samson was a powerful man who was feared by the people of Gaza. When they heard he had come to their city, they surrounded him and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city. However, Samson was able to escape by taking the doors of the gate and the two posts and carrying them up to the top of a hill that was before Hebron.

Later, Samson fell in love with a woman from the valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. Delilah has become a name that is associated with people like Jezebel, as it has taken many years for the name to be used again without the negative connotations. The name Delilah means precious, and yet many people are hesitant to use it as a name for their daughter.

Samson, on the other hand, is like the Hulk of the Book of Judges. He was so powerful that when he got angry, he was able to take the jawbone of a donkey and kill an army. When the people of Gaza heard he had come to their city, they enclosed him in the city by locking the massive wooden doors. However, Samson was able to escape.

Samson was someone God wanted to use to be a leader in Israel. From his very inception, his dad and mom were told by God to treat this child differently, as he was given a very specific mission. This mission was the Nazarite vow, which meant Samson could not do certain things that others were allowed to. This included no razor coming upon his hair, no drinking of the fruit of the vine, and no touching of a dead body.

The Nazarite vow was typically a temporary vow that the children of Israel would take for a period of time such as three weeks, four months, or a year. This was done to limit themselves from all the cares of this world and concentrate their focus and attention on the Lord Jesus Christ. Samson participated in this vow and likely had really long hair because of it. He was also not allowed to drink wine or a concoction similar to apple cider vinegar.

It's very strong and very potent, but it's not like the worst thing in the world.

Samson faced the same struggles that you and I face when it comes to following God. From the time of his beginning, he struggled with keeping the vow. Throughout the entirety of his life, it seemed like he was always at one point breaking one of the rules. For example, when he killed a lion, he was going to Timnath and had a lady friend there. On his way back, the carcass of the lion was laying there, and bees had gotten in it and made a beehive with honey.

Samson was tempted by the honey and reached his hand into the dead lion to pull it out. This is the same problem Samson had in every area of his life as he always wanted what his eyes were attracted to right away. He was very attracted to the immediate pleasures of this world at the expense of future problems. This set up a toxic combination with Delilah, someone that was delicate, pretty, and nice.

Samson had a propensity to like what he saw and make decisions off of what felt good at the time. The Bible calls this lust, which is an immediate desire. It's almost like thinking as you're driving down the road and you see something that triggers an immediate reaction in your body. This is a Samson kind of desire, a lust, a reaction rather than an action.

It's so hard to explain because it's deeper than just desire. Preachers have trouble explaining the difference between lust and love.

Samson's story involves another ingredient, Delilah. She is the object that Samson wants, and she triggers his lusts. Without her, his body would not react. So, Samson is someone who is willing to let the lusts of this world take over his calling.

Samson had a choice to make: flirt with Delilah or get her out of his life. We can learn from Samson's mistake and understand why we need to get Delilah out of our lives. Delilah will control us and try to find out what makes us tick. She will ask us to tell her the source of our strength and identity. If we give in to her, we will be weakened and become like everyone else.

Satan also has temptations for us that can lead to our destruction. We may be perfectly content with our lives until we see something that we suddenly covet. We may give in to our physical appetites and eat unhealthy food for breakfast. We may look at something on social media and become a contributor to gossip. We may even wake up in the morning and become mad at the first thing that comes our way.

All of these temptations are like a Delilah in our lives. We must be aware of them and make the right choice to stay away from them.

Samson had allowed his lusts to take control of his life. He thought he could control it, but it started to demand more and more of his time. Delilah asked him to tell her the secret of his strength, and he foolishly agreed. The Philistines brought seven green whisks which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. There were men lying in wait in the chamber, and she said to him, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson." He broke the whisks as a thread of tow is broken when it is touched with fire, and his strength was not known.

Sin binds us, and it starts to affect every part of our life. We think we can control it, but it starts to ask for more and more. We need new thrills to give us the same feeling it gave us at the beginning. Delilah was not satisfied with the time Samson was giving her, and she asked him to tell her the secret of his strength. He was bound with the seven green whisks, and his strength was not known.

Samson thought his strength was in his physical body, but it was actually in his spiritual life. He was allowing Delilah to take over his spiritual condition, and he thought he could overcome it through physical means. However, he could not overcome the spiritual, and the sin started to bind him. Even if he got a little bit of victory, Delilah would come back stronger.

Delilah asked Samson to tell her where his great strength lieth. Samson replied that if he were bound with new ropes that had never been occupied, he would be as weak as any other man. Delilah then took new ropes and bound him with them. However, Samson was able to break them off his arms like a thread.

Delilah then demanded more of him and asked him to tell her wherewith he might be bound. Samson replied that if she weaved the seven locks of his head with a web, then he would be bound.

Satan confused Eve in the Garden of Eden by asking her if God had really said they couldn't eat of any tree of the garden. Eve replied that God had only said they couldn't eat of one tree. Satan then told her that she wouldn't die and that her eyes would be opened and she would be as God, knowing good and evil. This tempted Eve to think that maybe God didn't have the best life for her planned out and that she should go her own way.

We all get confused sometimes, just like Eve and Samson did. Samson started to make a decision that maybe God didn't have his best interest at heart and he needed to choose a different way. But what was shaping his mind in that way? It wasn't God; it was temptation. His lust for immediate satisfaction was taking over the mission God had for him, and it was confusing.

After three times of trying to control his temptation, Samson finally admitted it and gave his entire heart to it. The object of his desire took away his strength. Many good people have let temptation take their strength away, thinking they were powerful enough to control it. But sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay. Its destination is destruction.

Samson went out to fight like he had before, thinking he still had the same power from God. But the Lord was not with him, and he was soon defeated. He went from being a ruler of his people to less than an animal. The Philistine Army used him as a trophy to show how great their God was over the God of Israel.

But in the end, there was a redeeming quality to the story. Samson was treated like a trophy, and they had a big party to celebrate.

The story of Samson and Delilah is a cautionary tale of what happens when lust and opportunity come together. Samson was taken away from everything that made him human and demoralized to an animal. He was put between two pillars in front of a temple so that the Philistine nations could mock and jeer at him.

In his despair, Samson cried out to God, asking to be used one more time to break his chains. God showed mercy on Samson and gave him the strength to bring destruction to his enemies. He pushed against the pillars, causing a cave-in that killed many of the Philistines. Unfortunately, Samson was also a casualty of the destruction.

We all want to have a Samson-like moment in which we kick our addictions, but it doesn't always happen the way we want it to. Samson would have loved to go back to being a judge, but he couldn't. All he could do was break free of his current addiction.

James brings this out so beautifully when he says, "Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lusts and enticed." When we take our lusts and an enticement, it leads to sin and eventually death. To avoid this, we must check our lusts and opportunities. If we are prone to having an enticement towards something, it is best to remove the opportunity.

It is hard to eat chocolate if it is not in the house, and it is hard to mess around with girls if you can't be around them. It can be really hard to manage anger if you don't take steps to prevent it. Don't watch the news, and don't do things that will make you angry. Instead, do something that will help you limit extreme emotions.

If you're struggling with emotions, don't give yourself the opportunity to sin. When our desires meet an object, we can be tempted. We can't win against sin, so we need to turn away from it. The Bible says to confess our sins, and God will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We can't do it on our own; we need the healing touch of God.

If we let sin rule our lives, it will bring separation and destruction. We need to get connected to God and set barriers in our life to keep us from falling prey to our temptations.

I love how the Apostle Paul gave us an example of crucifying our sin and no longer letting it reign in our lives. We can learn from the life of Samson and Delilah, two people who had a much better opportunity of living good lives but could not get the sin out.

With our heads bowed and eyes closed, no one looking around, we have a time of invitation. God has spoken to our hearts, and we need to do business with Him. The altars are open to pray, or we can pray at our seat. If God has spoken to our hearts and put something on our hearts that we need to stop, we should respond and make today Day Zero of making a significant change in our life.

We can stand and sing the hymn with us, 600 in our hymn books.

Father, we do need Thee. Lord, I pray that You will shine a light onto our hearts this week. Holy Spirit of God, I pray that You will speak into our lives and that we will be sensitive to what You have to tell us. Lord, help us to make good decisions and not let temptation rule our lives. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

Thank you for paying attention and listening. Don't forget we have our Fellowship Sunday, and if you want to, after service there is food, and you can enjoy some time just hanging out with other people and getting to know each other.

We also have the Matt Wilkerson family who are heading to Togo, West Africa next month as missionaries. They have finished deputation and were able to get all the money they need to go to Togo, West Africa. God gave them a wife that they needed to go to Togo, West Africa.

It has been three months since they got married, so they are newlyweds. They are going on their honeymoon to West Africa, where he has done a survey trip and worked there for a little bit with another missionary when he was younger. His dad was a pastor at Cedar Hill Church for many years. They are excited to see what God will use them to do.

Camp registration forms are due, and they will be leaving next week to go to Camp Timberline. Brother Brian will close the prayer and ask for the food.